Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A member of a peasant caste residing in the Punjab and other areas of northern India and Pakistan, comprising Muslim, Hindu, and Sikh groups.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a member of an Indo-European people widely scattered throughout the northwest of the Indian subcontinent and consisting of Muslims and Hindus and Sikhs

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Hindi jāṭ, from Middle Indic *jaṭṭa-; probably akin to Sanskrit Jartikaḥ, name of a tribe.]

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Examples

  • The Jat is a typical son of the soil, strong and sturdy, hardworking and brave, a fine soldier and an excellent farmer, but slow-witted and grasping.

    The Panjab, North-West Frontier Province, and Kashmir James McCrone Douie 1894

  • Sanjit Das/The Wall Street Journal 'What's the big benefit?' said Gopal Ram Jat, a 40-year-old farmer in Nakrasar who says he has earned enough money through the program to buy some extra food for his family, but not much else.

    India's Flawed 'New Deal' Program 2011

  • A few hours later she is in a safe house with Prashant, the boy she loves, the boy she was barred from marrying on pain of death because he is from the lowly Meena caste while she is a more exalted Jat.

    Honour killings: Saved from India's caste system by the Love Commandos Gethin Chamberlain 2010

  • Their jhuggi, just next to the Malibu Towers, is built on a plot of land owned by a Jat -- a member of the predominant, land-owning caste in Haryana, the state of which Gurgaon is a part -- whom they call Pehelvan ( "wrestler") and pay 600 Rupees a month for the right to live there illegally.

    Parvez Sharma: Delhi's Servant Crisis and the Commonweath Games Parvez Sharma 2010

  • Their jhuggi, just next to the Malibu Towers, is built on a plot of land owned by a Jat -- a member of the predominant, land-owning caste in Haryana, the state of which Gurgaon is a part -- whom they call Pehelvan ( "wrestler") and pay 600 Rupees a month for the right to live there illegally.

    Parvez Sharma: Delhi's Servant Crisis and the Commonweath Games Parvez Sharma 2010

  • "What's the big benefit?" said Gopal Ram Jat, a 40-year-old farmer in a white cotton head scarf.

    India's Boom Bypasses Rural Poor Tom Wright 2011

  • The airline has talked about buying the Polish and Serbian carriers, LOT and Jat, though a company statement says the board has yet to make a decision.

    Turkish Air Charts Growth Path 2010

  • The discovery of the children working in filthy conditions in the Shahpur Jat area of Delhi has renewed concerns about the outsourcing by large retail chains of their garment production to India, recognised by the United Nations as the world's capital for child labour.

    Archive 2007-10-01 2007

  • They are a typical Jat family that enjoys treating the guest to a hearty punjabi meal.

    Archive 2007-02-01 Anjali 2007

  • Asif is a Muslim married to his classmate Seema a Jat.

    Archive 2007-02-01 Anjali 2007

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