caste

Meaning

Any of the hereditary social classes and subclasses of South Asian societies or similar found historically in other cultures.
A separate and fixed order or class of persons in society who chiefly associate with each other.
A class of polymorphous eusocial insects of a particular size and function within a colony.

class

rank

social rank

social stratum

low-caste person

caliber

Frequency

Pronounced as (IPA)

/kɑːst/

Borrowed from Portuguese or Spanish casta (“lineage, breed, race”), of uncertain origin. * The OED derives it from Portuguese casto (“chaste”), from Latin castus (“chaste"; "chastity”). * Coromines (1987) argues instead for a hypothetical Gothic form *𐌺𐌰𐍃𐍄𐍃 (*kasts, “group, collection of animals”), cognate with English cast, from Proto-Germanic *kastuz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ǵ-es-.