ENGLISH
REFERENCE

caste

n.
US //ˈkæst// UK //kˈɑːst// caste
  1. 1 social class (n.)
    B2 Upper Intermediate

    a fixed social group that a person is born into, especially in India.

    any of the hereditary social classes in South Asian societies that restrict the occupation of their members and their association with others.

    Example

    In the past, your caste often decided what kind of job you could have.

    Example

    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.
  2. 2 exclusive group (n.)
    C1 Advanced Formal

    a group of people who share the same rank or job and mostly stay together.

    a social group or class that is exclusive and maintains its status through restricted social interaction.

    Example

    The high-ranking officers formed a separate caste within the military.

    Example

    The political elite functioned as a closed caste, rarely interacting with the citizens they were elected to represent.
  3. 3 insect group (n.)
    C2 Proficiency Technical Science

    a group of insects in a colony that have a specific job, like workers or soldiers.

    a specialized group of individuals within a colony of social insects, such as ants or bees, characterized by a specific size and function.

    Example

    The soldier caste is responsible for defending the ant nest from attackers.

    Example

    In honeybee colonies, the queen and the workers represent distinct castes with vastly different physiological and behavioral traits.

    Usage

    Commonly used in biology and zoology to describe eusocial structures.
Origin

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.

Related words

Last updated June 20, 2026