Caste Definition
kăst
castes
noun
Any of the hereditary, endogamous social classes or subclasses of traditional Hindu society, stratified according to Hindu ritual purity, especially the Brahman, Kshatriya, Vaisya, and Sudra castes.
American Heritage
Any of the distinct, hereditary Hindu social classes, each traditionally, but no longer officially, excluded from social dealings with the others.
Webster's New World
Any exclusive and restrictive social or occupational class or group.
Webster's New World
Rigid class distinction based on birth, wealth, etc., operating as a social system or principle.
Webster's New World
The social position or status conferred by a system based on castes.
Lose caste by doing work beneath one's station.
American Heritage
idiom
lose caste
- to lose social status or position
Webster's New World
Other Word Forms of Caste
Noun
Singular:
caste
Plural:
castesIdioms, Phrasal Verbs Related to Caste
- lose caste
Origin of Caste
-
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 * (kasts), cognate with English cast, from Proto-Germanic *kastuz
From Wiktionary
-
Spanish casta race and Portuguese casta race, caste both from feminine of casto pure from Latin castus kes- in Indo-European roots
From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
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