Word
caste
US/ˈkæst/
UK/kˈɑːst/
Definitions
01social class
n. a fixed social group that a person is born into, especially in India.
n. any of the hereditary social classes in South Asian societies that restrict the occupation of their members and their association with others.
“In the past, your caste often decided what kind of job you could have.”
“The traditional caste system has faced significant legal and social challenges in modern India, yet its influence persists in rural marriage customs.”
Usage
Often used with the definite article 'the' when referring to the system as a whole.
02exclusive group
n. a group of people who share the same rank or job and mostly stay together.
n. a social group or class that is exclusive and maintains its status through restricted social interaction.
“The high-ranking officers formed a separate caste within the military.”
“The political elite functioned as a closed caste, rarely interacting with the citizens they were elected to represent.”
Formal
03insect group
n. a group of insects in a colony that have a specific job, like workers or soldiers.
n. a specialized group of individuals within a colony of social insects, such as ants or bees, characterized by a specific size and function.
“The soldier caste is responsible for defending the ant nest from attackers.”
“In honeybee colonies, the queen and the workers represent distinct castes with vastly different physiological and behavioral traits.”
Technical
Usage
Commonly used in biology and zoology to describe eusocial structures.
Real-World Examples
“The film, which follows Mahanandia’s journey, also explores the caste discrimination that he faced in India.” “Sundiata writes in CASTE: A Global Journal on Social Exclusion, “an inferior untouchable caste,” arguably among “‘The Last Untouchables in Europe,’” whose status was not dissimilar to that of the Dalits in India.” Etymology
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-.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Domain
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/caste