Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A member of the lowest class in traditional Indian society, falling altogether outside the Hindu caste categories and subject to extensive social restrictions.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A member of a South Asian group of people traditionally regarded as untouchables or outcastes.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[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 Indo-European roots.]

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Examples

  • Another dalit (Madiga) Ananta Rao. , a Dalit student of B.Ed says ' Chiranjeevi has become a model for them(Dalits)'

    Archive 2007-05-01 kesav 2007

  • Another dalit (Madiga) Ananta Rao. , a Dalit student of B.Ed says ' Chiranjeevi has become a model for them(Dalits)'

    Untouchable Spring .... అంటరాని వసంతం kesav 2007

  • Now with growing dalit violence, it is the Naxal intrusion in the Dalit ranks alleged the officials.

    A New Dalit Movement Emerging From Maharastra? Abhay N 2006

  • Now with growing dalit violence, it is the Naxal intrusion in the Dalit ranks alleged the officials.

    Archive 2006-12-01 Abhay N 2006

  • It is true that the internal dynamics of the dalit movement coupled with the chronic weaknesses of the radical transformatory or other democratic movements, and an ascendant Sangh Parivar which has operationalised a multidimensional action plan to coopt the dalits has definitely complicated things for all those forces who feel concerned about this new turn in the Dalit mindset.

    Kafila 2009

  • Though I’m from the neghbouring state Andhra Pradesh and actively involved in post Mandal dalit politics, I’m not heard of Thirumavalavan and Dalit panthers till recently.

    Archive 2006-11-01 kesav 2006

  • Though I’m from the neghbouring state Andhra Pradesh and actively involved in post Mandal dalit politics, I’m not heard of Thirumavalavan and Dalit panthers till recently.

    Untouchable Spring .... అంటరాని వసంతం kesav 2006

  • "It's wonderful, because by referring to the term Dalit and Dr. Ambedkar Obama has given us recognition," Prasad said.

    Dalits get their wish as Obama evokes story of their hero Emily Wax 2010

  • Even the term Dalit covers scores of subcastes and tribes, many speaking different languages.

    Caste Struggle 2008

  • Lucknow: A social activist and former MLA wants the term Dalit dropped from all government communication.

    Daily News & Analysis 2009

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