Vaisya

American  

[vahys-yuh, vahysh-] / ˈvaɪs yə, ˈvaɪʃ- /

noun

1. a member of the Hindu mercantile and professional class, above the Shudras and below the Kshatriyas.

---

Vaisya British  

/ ˈvaɪsjə, ˈvaɪʃjə /

noun

1. the third of the four main Hindu castes, the traders

---

Etymology

Origin of Vaisya

First recorded in 1785–95, Vaisya is from the Sanskrit word vaiśya

Example Sentences

A Vaisya lives by distributing the fruits of his own acts and agriculture.

From The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, Volume 4 Books 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 and 18 by Ganguli, Kisari Mohan

Thus in Bengal there are the Vaidya or Baidya, the physicians, who, Manu says, originated in the marriage of a Brahman father and a Vaisya mother.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 5, Slice 4 "Carnegie Andrew" to "Casus Belli" by Various

Vidura, and Sanjaya and Yuyutsu of great intelligence, who was Dhritarashtra's son by his Vaisya wife, used to wait upon Dhritarashtra.

From The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, Volume 4 Books 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 and 18 by Ganguli, Kisari Mohan

They form a class of the Vaisya caste, wear a peculiar dress, and are strict in the observance of fasts and in abstaining from the use of flesh.

From The New Gresham Encyclopedia. Vol. 1 Part 3 Atrebates to Bedlis by Various

Similarly, one that is a Vaisya by birth may, by following the practices of a Sudra, become a Sudra.

From The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, Volume 4 Books 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 and 18 by Ganguli, Kisari Mohan