caste mark

American  

noun

1. (in India) a mark, usually on the forehead, symbolizing and identifying caste membership.

2. a distinctive trait, associated with a group or class and marking a person as a member.

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Etymology

Origin of caste mark

First recorded in 1900–05

Example Sentences

As the blinds were lifted after the train left the first small station, the light disclosed, huddled into a far corner seat, a young woman wrapped in the coarsest of white garments, with scarcely an ornament upon her body and no caste mark upon her forehead.

From Project Gutenberg

The Shriners' caste mark, worn proudly if sometimes absurdly, is a maroon felt hat that can conceal but does little else for a shiny bald head.

From Time Magazine Archive

Winding up a coast-to-coast lecture tour with her husband, Authoress Mrs. Krishna Hutheesing, younger sister of India's Prime Minister Nehru, said in Manhattan that the kumkum, the spot of color worn in the center of the forehead by Indian women, is not a caste mark.

From Time Magazine Archive

The circle of red powder on her forehead was not a caste mark, the Maharani explained, "but an auspicious sign which one may or may not wear without violating ethics."

From Time Magazine Archive

"W'y, any fool could guess near enough!" cried Sydney, with the superflous violence that was his caste mark.

From Project Gutenberg