ˈkast, -aa(ə)-, -ai-, -ȧ- noun
( -s )
Usage: often attributive
Etymology: in sense 1, from Spanish casta race, breed, lineage, from casta, feminine of casto chaste, from Latin castus; in other senses, from Portuguese casta, literally, race, breed, lineage, from casta, feminine of casto chaste, from Latin castus pure, chaste; akin to Latin carēre to be without, Greek keazein to split, Sanskrit śasati he cuts to pieces; basic meaning: to cut
1. obsolete : a race, stock, or breed of men or animals
2. : one of the hereditary classes into which the society of India is divided in accordance with a system fundamental in Hinduism, reaching back into distant antiquity, and dictating to every orthodox Hindu the rules and restrictions of all social intercourse and of which each has a name of its own and special customs that restrict the occupation of its members and their intercourse with the members of other castes — see brahman , kshatriya , sudra , vaisya , varna
3.
a. : a division or class of society comprised of persons within a separate and exclusive order based variously upon differences of wealth, inherited rank or privilege, profession, occupation
the tinkers then formed an hereditary caste — T.B.Macaulay
his sturdy brown legs were tattooed in blue to the thighs, indicating his high caste — Robert Trumbull
broadly : class
b. : the position conferred by caste standing : prestige , face — used especially in the phrase lose caste
art and religion have lost caste — F.L.Baumer
4. : a system of social stratification more rigid than a class and characterized by hereditary status, endogamy, and social barriers rigidly sanctioned by custom, law, or religion
5. : a form of polymorphic social insects (as ants, bees, and termites) that carries out a particular function in the colony
worker caste
soldier caste