n. A member of the lowest class in traditional Indian society, falling altogether outside the Hindu caste categories and subject to extensive social restrictions. [Hindi dalit, crushed, oppressed, from Sanskrit dalita-, past passive participle of dalayati, to cause to burst, variant of darayati, he splits, derived form (probably a denominative of -daraḥ, smasher, as in puraṃdaraḥ, citadel-smasher, an epithet of Indra) of darati, he splits; see der- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.] Dalit adj. |
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