gotra

American  

[goh-truh] / ˈgoʊ trə /

noun

1. a Hindu clan tracing its paternal lineage from a common ancestor, usually a saint or sage.

---

Etymology

Origin of gotra

Borrowed into English from Sanskrit around 1875–80

Example Sentences

By the time the fathers discovered that their families were of the same gotra, or subcaste, generally making marriage taboo, their children had texted and emailed enough that they were hooked.

From New York Times • Apr. 24, 2015

"I cannot get my daughter married off to anyone with my gotra or my wife's gotra or my mother's gotra or my grandmother's gotra," Raghuvir Singh said.

From New York Times • Oct. 12, 2012

Khap panchayats generally govern a cluster of villages whose dominant population is from a single gotra, or clan, but make decisions for all castes.

From New York Times • Oct. 12, 2012

The word gotra means a stall or cow-pen, and would thus originally signify those who lived together in one place like a herd of cattle.

From The Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of India—Volume I (of IV) by Russell, R. V. (Robert Vane)

A Parwār must not marry in his own gotra nor in the mul of his mother, or any of his grandmothers or greatgrandmothers.

From The Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of India Volume II by Russell, R. V. (Robert Vane)