Word.ws English Dictionary

brahman

brahman is the alternative form of brahmin.

Meaning of brahmin

Noun

brahmin (plural brahmins)

  1. A member of the Hindu priestly caste, one of the four varnas or social groups based on occupation in ancient Hindu society.
    Synonyms:
    brahmana
  2. One who has realized or attempts to realize Brahman, i.e. God or supreme knowledge.
  3. A scholar, teacher, priest, intellectual, researcher, scientist, knowledge-seeker, or knowledge worker.
  4. (New-England, US, capitalized, especially) A member of a social and cultural elite, especially in the New England region of the USA.
    • Branching from the root of it all was New England Society. The original Nelson [W. Aldrich] became remembered as a patrician, a Brahmin.1988 July 31, Jane O'Reilly, “Even Brahmins Get The Blues”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the original on 11 Mar 2022
  5. A learned person of refined taste and mild manners.

See all 6 meanings of brahmin

Noun capitalized: Brahman

Brahman (plural Brahmans)

  1. A breed of beef cattle from India with a hump on the shoulder.
    • The coins of this dynasty are all marked with the figures of the Brahman Bull and a horseman; and it is remarkable that this very Hindú device was retained by the Mohammedan sovereigns who reigned over the same countries.1846 June 20, “Asiatic Society.—June 6.—The Earl of Aukland in the chair.”, in The Athenæum, number 973, page 632
  2. (dated) A Brahmin

Proper noun capitalized: Brahman

Brahman

  1. (Hinduism) The unchanging, infinite, immanent, and transcendent reality which is the Divine Ground of all matter, energy, time, space, being, and everything beyond in this Universe. The nature of Brahman is described as transpersonal, personal and impersonal by different philosophical schools.

Forms of brahman

Noun
pluralbrahmans
alternative formbrāhman
pluralBrahmans
alternative form (obsolete)Brāhman
alternative form (obsolete)Brachman
Proper noun
alternative formBrahma
alternative formBrahmin
alternative formBrahmana

Origin of brahman

From Hindi ब्राह्मण (brāhmaṇ) / Urdu براہمن (brāhman).

Borrowed from Sanskrit ब्रह्मन् (bráhman).

Words formed from brahman

Questions about brahman

What does brahman mean?
Brahman means a breed of beef cattle from India with a hump on the shoulder.
What is brahman the alternative form of?
Brahman is the alternative form of brahmin.
What part of speech is brahman?
Brahman can be a noun or a proper noun.
What is the plural of brahman?
The plural of brahman is brahmans.

Words near brahman in the dictionary

  1. brahmaeids
  2. Brahmagupta
  3. Brahmagupta's formula
  4. Brahmaic
  5. Brahmaloka
  6. brahman
  7. brahmana
  8. brahmanas
  9. Brahmanbaria
  10. Brahmanbaria District
  11. Brahmanda

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: brahman (page history and authors); Brahman (page history and authors); brahmin (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-Brahman.wav.

Cite this entry: “brahman.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/brahman. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.