twice-born

American  

[twahys-bawrn] / ˈtwaɪsˈbɔrn /

adjective

1. Hinduism. of or relating to members of the Indian castes of Brahmins, Kshatriyas, and Vaisyas, who undergo a spiritual rebirth and initiation in adolescence.

2. having undergone reincarnation.

3. born-again.

4. denoting any moral or religious experience that brings about a major reorientation of a person's character or personality.

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Etymology

Origin of twice-born

1400–50, 1785–95 twice-born for def. 1; late Middle English: an epithet of Bacchus

Example Sentences

Mukhopadhyay, a philosopher in Varanasi, told me as I was researching my 2019 book “The Twice-Born: Life and Death on the Ganges.”

From New York Times

“The Twice-Born,” a new memoir by Aatish Taseer, is troubled by a single plaintive question: Does a city steeped in tradition have a future in modern India?

From The New Yorker

In the process, “The Twice-Born” becomes a moving, if maundering, riff on what it means to be modern.

From The New Yorker

The “twice-born” in Aatish Taseer’s title are the Brahmins who are “reborn” when they undergo initiation as young men into India’s highest caste.

From New York Times

The collection’s French-born founders, John and Dominique de Menil, were observant Roman Catholics and also observant modernists — twice-born utopians, you might say, anti-extravagance, pro-transcendence.

From New York Times