pariah

Etymology

From Tamil பறையர் (paṟaiyar), from பறையன் (paṟaiyaṉ, “drummer”), from பறை (paṟai, “drum”) or from Malayalam പറയർ (paṟayaṟ), from പറയൻ (paṟayaṉ, “drummer”), from പറ (paṟa, “drum”). Parai in Tamil or Para in Malayalam refers to a type of large drum designed to announce the king’s notices to the public. The people who made a living using the parai were called paraiyar; in the caste-based society they were in the lower strata, hence the derisive paraiah and pariah. Alternatively, derived from Sanskrit पर (para, “distant; outsider”).

noun

1. Synonym of outcast: A person despised and excluded by their family, community, or society, especially a member of the untouchable castes in Indian society.
   I’m a pariah, outlawed from Time Lord society. 1985, Robert Holmes, “The Two Doctors”, in Doctor Who, season 22, episode 4
   […] I went from being a much-feted author to a pariah, since one of the many problems of being trashed on the front page of the New York Times is that everyone is in the know. 2014, Sylvia Ann Hewlett, “Prologue”, in Executive Presence
2. (figurative) A similarly despised group of people or species of animal.
   As ecological conditions became unfavorable for pig raising, there was no alternative function which could redeem its existence. The creature became not only useless, but worse than useless—harmful, a curse to touch or merely to see—a pariah animal. 2013, Marvin Harris, “The Abominable Pig”, in Food and Culture: A Reader, 3rd edition, New York City, pages 64–65
   This scenario could lead to war crimes the scale of which has not been seen in Europe since the Nazis — crimes that would make Vladimir Putin, his cronies and Russia as a country all global pariahs. 2022-03-02, Thomas L. Friedman, “I See Three Scenarios for How This War Ends”, in The New York Times, →ISSN
3. (zoology) Ellipsis of pariah dog: an Indian breed, any stray dog in Indian contexts.