HINDU

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does Hindu mean? 

• HINDU (noun)
  The noun HINDU has 2 senses:

1. a native or inhabitant of Hindustan or India

2. a person who adheres to Hinduism

  Familiarity information: HINDU used as a noun is rare.

• HINDU (adjective)
  The adjective HINDU has 1 sense:

1. of or relating to or supporting Hinduism

  Familiarity information: HINDU used as an adjective is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• HINDU (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A native or inhabitant of Hindustan or India

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

Hindoo; Hindu; Hindustani

Hypernyms ("Hindu" is a kind of...):

Asian; Asiatic (a native or inhabitant of Asia)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "Hindu"):

brahman; brahmin (a member of the highest of the four Hindu varnas)

Kshatriya (a member of the royal or warrior Hindu caste)

Rajpoot; Rajput (a member of the dominant Hindu military caste in northern India)

Shudra; Sudra (a member of the lowest or worker Hindu caste)

Vaisya (a member of the mercantile and professional Hindu caste; the third of the four main castes)

Holonyms ("Hindu" is a member of...):

Hindustan (northern region of India where Hinduism predominates)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A person who adheres to Hinduism

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

Hindoo; Hindu

Hypernyms ("Hindu" is a kind of...):

religious person (a person who manifests devotion to a deity)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "Hindu"):

swami (a Hindu religious teacher; used as a title of respect)

chela (a Hindu disciple of a swami)

Hare Krishna (worshipper of Krishna and member of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness)

Shaktist (worshipper of Shakti)

Shivaist (worshipper of Shiva)

Vaishnava (worshipper of Vishnu)

saddhu; sadhu ((Hinduism) an ascetic holy man)

sannyasi; sannyasin; sanyasi (a Hindu religious mendicant)

Holonyms ("Hindu" is a member of...):

Hindooism; Hinduism (the religion of most people in India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Nepal)

Derivation:

Hindu (of or relating to or supporting Hinduism)

• HINDU (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Of or relating to or supporting Hinduism

Classified under:

Relational adjectives (pertainyms)

Synonyms:

Hindi; Hindoo; Hindu

Context example:

the Hindu faith

Pertainym:

Hinduism (a body of religious and philosophical beliefs and cultural practices native to India and based on a caste system; it is characterized by a belief in reincarnation, by a belief in a supreme being of many forms and natures, by the view that opposing theories are aspects of one eternal truth, and by a desire for liberation from earthly evils)

Derivation:

Hindu (a person who adheres to Hinduism)

 Context examples 

The extended Himalayas, also known as the Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH) area, includes several of the world’s highest mountains that are strung out over 3,600 kilometres across Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal and Pakistan.

(Bulk of Himalayan glaciers could vanish by 2100, SciDev.Net)