Nair
Americannoun
-
a group of Hindu castes in the Kerala region of India.
-
a member of any one of these castes.
adjective
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of Nair
1580–85; < Portuguese naire < Malayalam nāyar members of ruling caste < Sanskrit nāya to lead
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
An Indian national, Radhakrishnan Karthik Nair, 47, who worked for both companies as technical superintendent for the ship, the M/V Dali, is also named in the indictment unsealed on Tuesday.
From Barron's ● May 12, 2026
It was a direct nod to Mamdani himself, whose mother, Mira Nair, is a Punjabi Hindu woman from India.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 21, 2026
And he didn’t exactly come from nowhere; he’s the son of filmmaker Mira Nair and is open about having been raised in privilege.
From Salon ● Feb. 23, 2026
His mother is the filmmaker Mira Nair, and his father, Mahmood Mamdani, is a professor at Columbia University.
From BBC ● Dec. 8, 2025
The aroma that fills, as it were, the nostrils of my memory is the sulfurous, protein-dissolving fetor of Nair.
From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides
A mutual friend made the introductions between the Nairs and the Maccionis, and Le Cirque Delhi was born.
From New York Times ● Sep. 28, 2011
The Nairs are described as being the handsomest people in the world; the men being tall, sinewy and extraordinarily agile, while the women are slender and graceful, with perfectly modeled figures.
From Religion and Lust or, The Psychical Correlation of Religious Emotion and Sexual Desire by Weir, James
Calicut, taken by surprise, was easily set on fire; but the Portuguese, having lingered to pillage the Zamorin's palace, were fiercely attacked in rear by the Nairs, who had succeeded in rallying their troops.
From Celebrated Travels and Travellers Part I. The Exploration of the World by Leigh, Dora
Some survival of it, or at least the custom of polyandry, is found among the Nairs of southern India and in Thibet.
From The Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of India—Volume I (of IV) by Russell, R. V. (Robert Vane)
The Nairs of Malabar and the Santal of Chota Nagpur are typical representatives.
From Man, Past and Present by Haddon, Alfred Court
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
