caste

Meaning

1. Any of the hereditary social classes and subclasses of South Asian societies or similar found historically in other cultures.
2. A separate and fixed order or class of persons in society who chiefly associate with each other.
3. (uncountable) The division of society into castes; the caste system.
4. A class of polymorphous eusocial insects of a particular size and function within a colony.

Synonyms

class

rank

race

grade

family

👪

tribe

level

degree

community

sort

nation

row

denomination

beggars

genus

clan

kind

breed

type

order

social rank

social stratum

religion

low-caste person

species

splendour

station

🚉

status

stock

title

untouchable

year

ancestry

leatherworker

blacksmith

bracket

caliber

categorisation

category

classroom

descent

dignity

distinction

etc.

form

genera

genre

group

kindred

nationality

Translations

caste

Kaste

casta

casta

casta

kaste

kast

servet

kademe

casta

privilegio sociale

mendiants

κοινωνική τάξη

teinturier

Pronounced as (IPA)

/kɑːst/

Etymology

Cognate with English: cast

In summary

Borrowed from Portuguese or Spanish casta (“lineage, breed, race”), which the OED derives 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-.