Varna
/ˈvɑːr.nə/noun
A traditional Hindu social class or category, especially one of the four broad divisions described in Sanskrit texts.
Did you know?In the Rigveda, the four varṇas appear in the cosmic-body hymn, where society is poetically imagined as emerging from the mouth, arms, thighs, and feet of a primordial being.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European (proposed)
PIE
*wer-
“To cover, enclose, or protect; this root is traditionally connected with the Sanskrit idea of color as an outer covering or distinguishing surface.”
Vedic Sanskrit
Sanskrit
वर्ण (varṇa)
“Color, external appearance, type, or class.”
Rigvedic period
Sanskrit
वर्ण (varṇa)
“A symbolic social or cosmic category; the fourfold division appears in the Puruṣa Sūkta hymn.”
Classical Sanskrit
Sanskrit
varṇa
“Color, caste, social order, category, or letter of the alphabet.”
19th Century
English
varna
“An English scholarly and anthropological term for one of the four traditional Hindu social classes.”
Modern English
English
varna
“A broad traditional Hindu social classification, often distinguished from the more localized and hereditary jāti system.”