Dalit

noun

Da·​lit ˈdä-lit 

plural Dalits

: a member of the lowest class in the traditional Hindu social hierarchy having in traditional Hindu belief the quality of defiling by contact a member of a higher caste

Note: The Dalits were also formerly referred to as untouchables, a term that is now understood as offensive.

Examples of Dalit in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Although Dalits make up about 17% of India's population, the group, especially women, has been socially and historically oppressed. —Haadiza Ogwude, The Enquirer, 8 Oct. 2024

The Asia Dalit Rights Forum—an organization devoted to defending the rights of members of low castes—has estimated that some 260 million people worldwide, the majority of them in India and Nepal, suffer discrimination on the basis of caste identity. —Amitav Acharya, Foreign Affairs, 21 June 2022

Violence erupted after thousands of Dalits recited a pledge, in unison, vowing not to vote for Modi in the 2019 elections. —Lauren Frayer, NPR, 2 June 2024

While caste discrimination has been outlawed for decades, Dalits have long inhabited the lowest social rung in Indian society, with few opportunities on the literary scene. —Cameron Pugh, The Christian Science Monitor, 28 Feb. 2024

In a lawsuit filed in 2021, some of those workers, who reportedly turned out to be mostly low-caste Dalits, complained that overseers had confiscated their passports, lodged them in trailers on the site, forced them to work long hours, and paid them wages that were far below American standards. —Justin Davidson, Curbed, 9 Nov. 2023

Those at the lowest strata of the caste system, known as Dalits, have been pushing for legal protections in California and beyond. —CBS News, 7 Oct. 2023

Caste oppressed people, sometimes called Dalits, say those barriers have followed them even after immigration to the U.S. Three core strikers have been fasting for the past 18 days, with dozens of others joining them for different stretches of time. —Sakshi Venkatraman, NBC News, 22 Sep. 2023

In particular, neo-Buddhism turned into a means for Dalits – who face rampant discrimination at the bottom of Hinduism’s caste ladder – to leave the system that was oppressing them. —Marc Loustau, The Christian Science Monitor, 6 Sep. 2023

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Marathi or Hindi, borrowed from New Sanskrit dalita- "not belonging to one of the four traditional caste groupings in India, person not a member of these castes," going back to Sanskrit, "burst open, cleft, dispersed, destroyed," verbal adjective of dálati "(it) bursts, cracks, flies open," perhaps based on a variant dālay- of dāray-, causative derivative of dṛṇā́ti "(s/he) bursts, tears" — more at tear entry 1

First Known Use

1948, in the meaning defined above