verb
Meaning 1
To lose one's status as a member of one's caste of birth.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: South-Asia
Examples
- 1808, “Moral Character of the Hindoos, in Their Interior Department” in The Literary Panorama, London: C. Taylor, Volume 3, p. 141, Attachment to a master, a family, or a government of a different religion, is that which cannot be produced in the mind of a Hindoo, while under the power of his Gooroo or his Depta. But if they lose caste, and embrace Christianity, not by force, but from pure conviction, they become other men.
- 1857, D. Urquhart, The Rebellion of India, London: D. Bryce, “Mr. Disraeli’s Speech Reviewed,” p. 14, I would now ask what results could follow from enforcing on the Indian army the biting of a substance [i.e. cow grease on gunpowder cartridges] which they could not place between their lips without losing caste, and becoming objects of abhorrence to their co-religionaries, their friends and their families [...]
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided