twice-born
Americanadjective
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Hinduism. of or relating to members of the Indian castes of Brahmins, Kshatriyas, and Vaisyas, who undergo a spiritual rebirth and initiation in adolescence.
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having undergone reincarnation.
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denoting any moral or religious experience that brings about a major reorientation of a person's character or personality.
Etymology
Origin of twice-born
1400–50, 1785–95 twice-born for def. 1; late Middle English: an epithet of Bacchus
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.
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 ● Nov. 29, 2018
Theoretically this course of life was open and even recommended to every twice-born man, his distinctive class-occupations being in that case restricted to the second station, or that of married life.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 4, Slice 4 "Bradford, William" to "Brequigny, Louis" by Various
The prince of men with Lakshmaṇ's aid Parted the treasures there displayed, Gave to the poor, the young, the old, And twice-born men, the gems and gold.
From The Rámáyan of Válmíki, translated into English verse by Griffith, Ralph T. H. (Ralph Thomas Hotchkin)
But thou wert twice-born, and the Fates to thee —To make all sure—doubled thy misery.
From Poems of Henry Vaughan, Silurist, Volume II by Chambers, E. K. (Edmund Kerchever)
The twice-born men their steps retrace From each sequestered bathing-place, And each his sacred gift has brought Of blossoms which his hands have sought.
From The Rámáyan of Válmíki, translated into English verse by Griffith, Ralph T. H. (Ralph Thomas Hotchkin)
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.
