caste
Any of the hereditary social classes and subclasses of South Asian societies or…Any of the hereditary social classes and subclasses of South Asian societies or similar found historically in other cultures.
» They belong to the same caste.
Meaning
4 sensesAny of the hereditary social classes and subclasses of South Asian societies or similar found historically in other cultures.
Kaste
ка́стаkásta, ва́рнаvárna
ка́стаkásta
A separate and fixed order or class of persons in society who chiefly associate with each other.
(uncountable)The division of society into castes; the caste system.
A class of polymorphous eusocial insects of a particular size and function within a colony.
In beehives, most bees belong to the worker caste.
- in some social insects (such as ants) a physically distinct individual or group of individuals specialized to perform certain functions in the colony
- a social class separated from others by distinctions of hereditary rank or profession or wealth
- (Hinduism) a hereditary social class among Hindus; stratified according to ritual purity
- social status or position conferred by a system based on class
Examples
13 sentencesThey belong to the same caste.
He was born into a high caste.
He's a member of the ancient priestly caste.
To which caste of contributors do you belong?
deZu welcher Kaste von Mitarbeitern gehörst du?
In some societies, the caste system determined a person’s occupation from birth.
Translations
9 languagesBy meaning 1
By meaning 1
By meaning 1
Origin
Borrowed from Portuguese or Spanish casta (“lineage, breed, race”), which the OED derivesBorrowed 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-.
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
plural: castes| Singular | caste |
|---|
uncountable
Word family
19 related wordsLessons for this word
1 lessons- A1Countable and uncountable nouns — Because it can be uncountable