caste

English

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caste

Wikipedia

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: käst, IPA^(key): /kɑːst/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /kæst/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Homophones: cast, karst (in some non-rhotic accents)
• Rhymes: -ɑːst

Noun

caste (plural castes)

1. Any of the hereditary social classes and subclasses of South Asian societies.

   Hyponyms: Brahmin, Kshatriya, Shudra, Vaishya, varna

   • 2017 April 6, Samira Shackle, “On the frontline with Karachi’s ambulance drivers”, in the Guardian‎:

     Pakistan is a conservative, religious state. The Edhi Foundation is unusual in its ignoring of caste, creed, religion and sect. This strict stance has led to some criticism from religious groups.

2. A separate and fixed order or class of persons in society who chiefly associate with each other.
   • 1930, Norman Lindsay, Redheap, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, published 1965, →OCLC, page 89:

     It was an evidence of the peculiar nature of caste in country towns[.]

   • 1934, Agatha Christie, chapter 5, in Murder on the Orient Express, London: HarperCollins, published 2017, page 236:

     'I believe, Messieurs, in loyalty - to one's friends and one's family and one's caste.'

   • 1911, Thomas Babington Macaulay, “Bunyan, John”, in 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica‎:

     The tinkers then formed a hereditary caste.

3. (zoology) A class of polymorphous eusocial insects of a particular size and function within a colony.

   In beehives, most bees belong to the worker caste.

Derived terms

• casteless
• casteism
• caste-ridden
• half-caste
• lose caste
• quarter-caste

Translations

Anagrams

• Cates, Stace, cates, scate, sceat, taces

Dutch

Verb

caste

1. (dated or formal) singular present subjunctive of casten

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Portuguese casta, if of Germanic origin, possibly from Gothic 𐌺𐌰𐍃𐍄𐍃 (kasts), from Proto-Germanic *kastuz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ǵ-es- (“to throw”), similar to English cast. Or, alternatively from a derivative of Latin castus.

Noun

caste f (plural castes)

1. caste (hereditary class)
2. class (social position)

Further reading

• “caste”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé , 2012.

Galician

Alternative forms

• casta

Etymology

Probably from Gothic *𐌺𐌰𐍃𐍄𐍃 (*kasts), from Proto-Germanic *kastuz, *kastōną (“to throw, cast”), compare English cast.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkaste̝/

Noun

caste f (plural castes)

1. species, race or kind
   • 1853, Juan Manuel Pintos, A Gaita Gallega, Pontevedra: Impr. de D. José e D. Primitivo Vilas, page 29:

     Por aquí nacen os ricos polo outro probes labregos. Estas son as dúas castes que hai en todo o mundo inteiro.

     Here the rich people are born, there the poor peasants; these are the two races that there are in the whole world

2. quality
   • 1859, Ramón Barros Silvelo, Un dia de desfertuna, page 3:

     Dime logo que o probe do animal ou é de mala caste, ou ben non come

     He readily told me that the animal either was of bad quality, or either it didn't eat

3. progeny; group of people that share a common ancestor

   Synonyms: estirpe, fruxe, liñaxe

   • 1853, Juan Manuel Pintos, A Gaita Gallega, Pontevedra: Impr. de D. José e D. Primitivo Vilas, page 8:

     { soy llamado Pedro Luces ... } - To to to, vamos con tento que un home con ese nome pode ser caste do demo.

     {I am called Peter Lights...} —Wo wo wo! Let us be careful: a man with that name could de a Devil's child.

Derived terms

• castizar (“to mate”)
• castizo (“stud pig”)
• de caste (“selected”)

References

• “caste” in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega, SLI - ILGA 2006–2013.
• “caste” in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega. Santiago: ILG.
• “caste” in Álvarez, Rosario (coord.): Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués, Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega.

Italian

Adjective

caste

1. feminine plural of casto

Noun

caste f

1. plural of casta

Anagrams

• cesta, steca

Latin

Etymology 1

From castus +‎ -ē.

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈkas.teː/,
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈkas.te/,

Adverb

castē (comparative castius, superlative castissimē)

1. purely, spotlessly, virtuously
2. piously, religiously

Etymology 2

Inflected form of castus.

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈkas.te/,
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈkas.te/,

Adjective

caste

1. vocative masculine singular of castus

References

• “caste”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “caste”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• caste in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.