Meanings
vaishya1
nounvaishya (plural vaishyas)
plural vaishyas · alternative vaiśya
- Alternative letter-case form of Vaishya.
Vaishya2
nounVaishya (plural Vaishyas)
plural Vaishyas · alternative vaishya
- The third caste of traditional Indian society, comprising merchants and landowners.
- A member of this caste.
To perform successfully in the marketplace, vaishyas had to be ambitious, to want worldly goods, and to compete aggressively with their rivals, and this "desire" bound them inexorably to the cycle of death and rebirth.
2006, Karen Armstrong, The Great Transformation, Atlantic Books, published 2007, page 307
Origin
- Sanskritवैश्य
- EnglishVaishya
Borrowed from Sanskrit वैश्य (vaiśya).
More words from Sanskrit
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Chinese Mandarin 吠舍
- 吠舍 (fèishè)caste
Hindi वैश्य
- वैश्य (vaiśya)caste
Portuguese vaixá
- vaixácaste
Punjabi ਵੈਸ਼
- ਵੈਸ਼ (vaiś)caste
Urdu ویش
- ویش (veś)caste
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with vaishya
All rhymes →Anagrams
Cite this entry
APA
vaishya. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/vaishya
MLA
“vaishya.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/vaishya. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “vaishya,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/vaishya.
Source: vaishya on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.