masc nom sg of brāhmaṇa (noun)
Etymology. From Sanskrit brāhmaṇa, itself from brahman 'sacred utterance; cosmic principle; the Absolute'. The word entered Pali via Sanskrit channels and carries both its literal caste sense and the Buddha's reinterpretation: in the suttas, a true brāhmaṇa is one who has attained arahantship, not merely birth. The Sanskrit root brahman is obscure; likely from √brih 'to grow, expand' (Sanskrit bṛh), with the sense 'growth, expansion' → 'expansion of knowledge or cosmic principle'. The term reflects Indo-Aryan religious ideology, where brahman denoted both the priestly utterance (Vedic hymn) and eventually the metaphysical Absolute.
Meanings from the Digital Pāḷi Dictionary; morphology and etymology by Claude.
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