casten.

Brit.

/kɑːst/,

/kast/, U.S.

/kæst/

Forms: 1500s–1800s cast, 1500s 1700s– caste.

Origin: Of multiple origins. Partly a borrowing from Spanish. Partly a borrowing from Portuguese. Etymons: Spanish casta, Portuguese casta.

Etymology: Partly (i) (originally) < Spanish casta breed or species of animal (15th cent.), class of people, lineage (c1500; in the former Spanish territories of the Americas also with specific reference to ethnic origin: 1748 in the passage translated in quot. 1758 at sense 5), and partly (ii) (in sense 2) < its cognate Portuguese casta class of people in India (1516; 15th cent. in sense ‘breed or species of animal’), both of uncertain origin, probably either (a) respectively < Spanish casta , feminine of casto pure, chaste, and its Portuguese cognate, < classical Latin castus (feminine casta ) pure, unpolluted (see chaste adj.; if so, apparently with associations of an unmixed lineage), or (b) < an unattested (probably Gothic) reflex of the Germanic base of Old Icelandic kǫstr pile, heap (see cast v.), via an assumed sense ‘group of animals’ (compare the semantic development of cast n. 14). Compare cast n. 40, from which early uses (especially in form cast) are sometimes difficult to distinguish. With sense 5 compare casta n.Compare Catalan casta , noun (15th cent.), cognate with the Spanish and Portuguese words, and also ( < Portuguese) French caste class of people (1615), class in Hindu society (1659), class in society more generally (1790), Dutch kaste group or class of people (1641 as casta with reference to the Portuguese people; 1743 with reference to India). In the form caste in later use probably reinforced by French caste.

†1. A group or class of people regarded as having properties or attributes in common; esp. a group considered as having a common origin or comprising a nation, community, ethnic group, etc.; a people. Obsolete.In some contexts difficult to distinguish from other senses, esp. 2a and (in later use) 4a; see also cast n. 40a.

ΘΚΠ

the world > people > ethnicities > race > [noun]

strindc900

bloodOE

gest13..

strainc1330

nationa1382

kindc1390

markc1395

prosapy?a1475

stock1549

stem?c1550

caste1555

spring1597

race1612

issue1620

nationality1832

1555 W. Waterman tr. J. Boemus Fardle of Facions ii. i. 118 The Nabatheens..Their caste is wittye in winning of substaunce [L. in quaerendis opibus mira gentis industria].

1596 W. Raleigh Discoverie Guiana 90 One sort of people called Tiuitiuas, but of two castes as they tearme them.

1615 W. Bedwell Arabian Trudgman in tr. Mohammedis Imposturæ sig. M^v, at Beni It is a word often read preposed before other words: which therefore do not properly signifie any set place: but rather some name of a family, nation, kinred, or cast as they call it.

1704 tr. A. de Ovalle Of Kingdom of Chile in A. Churchill & J. Churchill Coll. Voy. III. 5/1 Who are a cast of Men that are their Doctors.

1732 G. Berkeley Alciphron II. vi. ii. 6 All the various Casts or Sects of the sons of Men have each their Faith, and their religious System.

1812 G. A. Thompson Geogr. & Hist. Dict. Amer. & W. Indies II. 440/2 Mangaches, a cast of Zambos, descendants of the Indians and Negroes.

a. Any of the (usually hereditary) classes or social ranks into which Hindu society is traditionally divided; a class of this sort forming part of a hierarchical social structure traditional in some parts of South Asia; (sometimes) spec. any of the four classes of the varna system (cf. varna n.).The ancient Hindu texts discuss four classes or varnas (see varna n.) which have social functions. While the varnas are constantly four in number, and are not always considered hereditary, there are hundreds of other caste divisions, whose status in relation to the varnas is often disputed (cf. jati n. 2). Membership of a caste is traditionally determined by paternity, and dictates marriage, employment possibilities, and social interaction according to a system that ranks occupations and activities by their degree of spiritual pollution. Those tasks perceived as the most polluting have traditionally been undertaken by a fifth group considered to be outside the varna system (cf. Dalit n., Scheduled Caste n. at scheduled adj. Compounds).Often with modifying word expressing ranking within a hierarchy, as higher, lower, etc.

ΘΚΠ

society > society and the community > social class > [noun] > distinction of class > level or grade > a Hindu caste

castea1624

class1794

varna1883

a1624 N. Withington in S. Purchas Pilgrimes (1625) I. iv. viii. 485 The Banians kill nothing: there are thirtie and odde seuerall Casts of these that differ something in Religion, and may not eat with each other; but all burne their dead.

1731 tr. Comte de Forbin Memoirs I. 206 Among all these Casts or Tribes, the most contemptible is that of the Shoe-makers, excepting that call'd Paria.

1763 R. Orme Hist. Mil. Trans. Brit. Nation I. i. 81 They are little superior in courage to the lower casts of Indians, and greatly inferior to the higher casts.

1838 Penny Cycl. XII. 230/1 The division of Hindus into..castes..existed from the earliest times. In Sanskrit they are called varnas, that is ‘colours’.

1857 G. Barrow Ceylon iii. 77 There are sundry castes prevailing in Ceylon; the highest comprises the noblemen, who are frequently very poor, while those of lower castes are comparatively wealthy.

1887 W. J. Wilkins Mod. Hinduism vi. 84 Each of the four great Hindu castes.

1910 Times 29 July 5/6 The pollution of bodily contact with the ‘untouchable’ castes.

1988 Proc. Indian Hist. Congr. 49 324 Nearly all castes of Sikhs were represented in towns and cities..but their proportion in the urban population was rather small.

2014 S. Dharmapala Saree (2015) 326 Her life was not easy, but as a devadasi she had..escaped the brutal stigmatisation of her caste.

b. A person's rank or position as defined by membership of a caste (sense 2a); hierarchical ranking of this sort operating as a social institution or system.Often with modifying word expressing the ranking.

ΘΚΠ

society > society and the community > social class > [noun] > distinction of class > level or grade > a Hindu caste > position it confers

caste1756

1756 Jrnl. Voy. East Indies 13 The vulgar Notion they have is, that the Wife loses her Cast, if she refuses to burn, and is thrown out and despised by her Family.

1807 Missionary Mag. Jan. 42 We told him..that all men would one day become Christians, and that difference of caste would be wholly abolished.

1818 Times 3 Oct. To this god..a man and a woman of low caste, made a vow.

1858 J. B. Norton Topics for Indian Statesmen 181 The stationary institutions of India, especially that of caste.

1909 M. Diver Candles in Wind iv. 45 A creature without either the birthright of caste, or the prestige of Sahib-dom.

1961 Sunday Times 1 Oct. (Magazine section) 32/2 Mr. Mohun Biswas, a Hindu of high caste and low fortune.

2016 A. Verma Broken Man 159 If it wasn't for my caste and poverty, no one could have separated us.

a. A breed or variety of (domesticated) animal, esp. regarded in terms of superiority or inferiority to others.In later use frequently simply an extended use of sense 2a.

ΘΚΠ

the world > life > biology > taxonomy > taxon > [noun] > species or sub-species > of animals

nationa1382

race1566

caste1759

1759 W. Rider New Universal Eng. Dict. Breed, a species of animals; a cast; or kind. Offspring, applied to mankind. That which is produced at one hatching.

1799 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 89 205 The Asiatic elephant... Both males and females are divided into two casts, by the natives of Bengal, viz. the koomareah and the merghee.

1841 C. H. Smith Nat. Hist. Horses (Naturalist's Libr.: Mammalia XII) 268 None..exceeded in stature a large mule, but they had much greater breadth at the hips, and with their short ears and sunken eyes, really looked like a low caste of French horses, excepting the legs, pasterns, joints, and hoofs.

2000 T. Hall To Elephant Graveyard (2001) vii. 168 White or yellow eyes, he explained, are anathema to the elephant connoisseur. ‘It is a sign that he is dangerous... Even though he is of a high caste, no phandi would ever capture him in the wild.’

2007 M. Fields-Babineau Mixed Breeds for Dummies i. 11 The story of mixed-breed dogs is often a sad one. Many people see them as a lower caste of animal—with no heritage and an unknown future.

b. Zoology. Each of several classes or types of individual present in the communities of animals with a highly developed social (eusocial) organization, such as ants, termites, or certain mole-rats, being characterized by their behaviour and their role in reproduction, and often morphologically distinct.

ΘΚΠ

the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > [noun] > member of > defined as social insect or association of > class in community

caste1832

1832 E. Griffith et al. Cuvier's Animal Kingdom XV. 345 It is fair to conclude that the soldiers compose a peculiar caste [of termites], and represent, in some measure in genus, the neuters of the ants and bees.

1859 C. Darwin Origin of Species vii. 238 The castes [of ants]..do not generally graduate into each other, but are perfectly well defined; being as distinct from each other, as are any two species of the same genus.

1922 W. M. Wheeler in Sci. Monthly July 69 In the social wasps we witness the first gradual development of a worker caste and also of polygyny and swarming.

1987 New Scientist 30 July 42/1 All the young ones [sc. mole-rats] joined this group at about three months of age, but some grew fast and moved up into the next caste, while others grew only slowly and stayed as ‘frequent workers’ throughout their lives.

2005 Nature 3 Mar. 36/2 Eusocial animals exhibit such characteristics as division of reproductive labour between castes, cohabiting generations and cooperative behaviour.

4. In extended use.

a. A distinct class or rank in any society, esp. one characterized by hereditary exclusivity. More generally: any group of people considered as forming a socially or economically distinct, exclusive, or restricted unit.

ΘΚΠ

society > society and the community > social class > [noun]

estatec1230

statec1300

rowa1350

qualityc1425

calling1477

range1494

line1528

stature1533

respect1601

station1603

gradationa1616

ordinancea1616

repute1615

spherea1616

distance1635

impression1639

civils1650

footing1657

regimen1660

order1667

sect1709

caste1791

status1818

position1829

social status1833

standpoint1875

society > society and the community > social class > nobility > aristocracy or upper class > [noun]

optimacy1579

aristocracy1651

great world1699

peerage1725

well-connected1788

governing class1795

patriciate1795

well-connected1831

caste1842

(the) salt of the earth1842

the leisured class(es1848

japonicadom1851

countyocracy1859

masterclass1861

proprietariat1872

four hundred1888

the Establishment1923

gratin1934

power élite1942

U1954

upper1955

topside1958

1791 J. Mackintosh Vindiciæ Gallicæ iv. 255 In France they [sc. the Nobles] formed an immense insulated cast, separated from society by every barrier that prejudice or policy could raise.

1808 C. Vancouver Gen. View Agric. Devon Concl. 468 The peasant's mind should never be inspired with a desire to amend his circumstances by the quitting of his cast.

1842 Ld. Tennyson Lady Clara Vere de Vere in Poems (new ed.) I. 157 Her manners had not that repose Which stamps the caste of Vere de Vere.

1885 Proc. Royal Geogr. Soc. 7 628 The Midgans are found living among all the Somali tribes, and are very much looked down upon. There are two other low castes: The Tomals, workers in iron, and the Ebir, workers in leather charms.

1910 C. Hamilton Theory of Theatre 50 The trouble with French tragedy..is that it was written only for the finest caste of society.

1965 Human Organization 24 329/1 The warrior (samurai) caste..supplied the largest percentage of recruits into the fields of government bureaucracy, police, and education.

2020 N.Y. Times (Nexis) 1 Dec. (Opinion section) We are slowly creating a caste of permanently undocumented Latino people in the United States.

b. Status, position, or rank within a community or social hierarchy; (also) a hierarchical system of social organization based on this.

ΘΚΠ

society > society and the community > social class > [noun] > system of

class1804

caste1816

caste system1816

social ladder1817

casteism1852

class system1877

classhood1878

pecking order1935

status system1939

peck order1950

society > society and the community > social class > [noun] > distinction of class > level or grade

mannishOE

placec1330

state1340

gree1382

conditionc1384

sectc1384

sortc1386

ordera1400

raff?a1400

degreea1425

countenancec1477

faction?1529

estate1530

race1563

calibre1567

being1579

coat1579

rang1580

rank1585

tier1590

classis1597

strain1600

consequence1602

regiment1602

sept1610

standinga1616

class1629

species1629

nome1633

quality1636

sort1671

size1679

situation1710

distinction1721

walk of life1733

walk1737

stage1801

strata1805

grade1808

caste1816

social stratum1838

station1842

stratum1863

echelon1950

1816 Times 8 July 3/2 Blunted sensibility—renewed excesses—loss of cast in society—follow each other in melancholy succession.

1870 R. W. Emerson Civilization in Wks. (1906) III. 9 The diffusion of knowledge, overrunning all the old barriers of caste.

1904 L. Hearn Japan: Attempt at Interpr. xii. 260 Caste would not seem to have developed any very rigid structure in Japan; and there were early tendencies to a confusion of the kabané.

2014 N.Y. Times Mag. 12 Oct. 14/1 Racialized slavery was only the first in a series of ‘peculiar institutions’..to enforce caste and class in the United States.

5. In contexts relating to Spanish territories in the Americas in the 18th and early 19th centuries: any of several groups or classes of people distinguished chiefly on the basis of racial heritage or descent; (occasionally) a person of mixed heritage belonging to such a group. Now historical.The Spanish term casta is now more often used in discussions of this topic; cf. casta n.In quot. 1758, perhaps a general use in sense 1 used to render the Spanish word.

ΚΠ

1758 J. Adams tr. A. de Ulloa Voy. S.-Amer. I. i. iv. 30 Its inhabitants..may be divided into different casts or tribes [Sp. varias Castas], who derive their origin from a coalition of whites, negroes and Indians.]

1824 J. R. Poinsett Notes on Mexico x. 120 The castes, that is to say, the mestizos, descendants of whites and Indians; mulattoes, descendants of whites and negroes; samboes, descendants of negroes and Indians—are scattered all over the country.

1827 R. Bache Notes on Colombia xiv. 257 Most of the inhabitants are blacks or casts; the Alcalde being a man of colour.

1959 I. A. Leonard Baroque Times in Old Mexico (1993) iii. 51 The heterogeneous nature of this large segment of society is abundantly clear, a condition accentuated by a confusing array of castes into which it divided.

2019 Hispania 102 590 Many vectors come together in Mulattos' and other castes' evolving identities.

Phrases

to lose caste: to be ostracized from or censured by one's caste, typically for behaviour considered unacceptable to that group; to lose the social position and status conferred by membership of a caste; (hence, in extended use) to fall in the estimation of a community, society, or group; to decline in reputation.

ΘΚΠ

society > society and the community > social class > be ranked socially [verb (intransitive)] > lose class

to lose caste1794

the mind > emotion > humility > humiliation > be humiliated [verb (intransitive)]

to light lowc1225

to lie lowa1275

to carry (also bear) coalsa1529

to eat the (or one's) leek1600

to lose caste1828

to eat dirt1857

1794 W. Carey Let. 3 Jan. in Baptist Reg. for 1794–7 (?1797) 163 One of the Rev. Mr. Brown's people at Calcutta..told him that if he would be baptized, and lose Cast, he would give him some support.

1814 M. M. Sherwood Hist. Little Henry & his Bearer 126 He has lost cast for becoming a Christian.

1828 M. R. Mitford Our Village III. 179 A natural fear of losing caste among her neighbours.

1930 J. B. Priestley Angel Pavement iii. 106 It is one of the smallest and dreariest of squares, and is rapidly losing caste.

1974 Jrnl. Southeast Asian Stud. 5 142 The Mutiny of the Bengal Sepoys, in 1824, over fear of losing caste by crossing the Bay of Bengal.

2002 Independent 29 Oct. 14/1 Candida has ‘lost caste’ by buying a small flat at the wrong end of Ladbroke Grove, dark, dirty and menacing.

Compounds

C1. As a modifier with the sense ‘of, relating to, or on the grounds of caste’, as in caste discrimination, caste feeling, etc.; also with the sense ‘by caste’, as in caste-bound, caste-ridden adjs.

ΚΠ

1818 Let. 29 July in E. India Affairs: Papers relating to Police, & Civil & Criminal Justice (1819) 325 in Parl. Papers (H.C. 533) XIII. 479 Under the cloak of upholding caste customs, from malignant or vindictive motives.

1855 E. Blyth Let. 4 Aug. in C. Darwin Corr. (1988) V. 399 The..priest-and caste-ridden Hindus.

1875 P. G. Hamerton Intellect. Life (ed. 2) viii. i. 279 The caste-feeling in one class or another.

1932 Current Hist. 37 218/2 His [sc. Gandhi's] purpose was..to reiterate to the British his determination to end caste discrimination against the Untouchables.

1955 T. H. Pear Eng. Social Differences 133 The mass of Americans..took it for granted that the typical Briton is essentially a caste-bound snob.

2019 P. Theroux On Plain of Snakes iv. 373 In the caste-conscious Mexican mind, Amurabi was a mestizo, that ethnic group of shifting definitions.

C2. As a modifier, designating a person who adheres to or follows the strictures of a caste system; spec. (in or with reference to Hindu society) designating a person or group belonging to one of the four classes or castes of the varna system (see sense 2), esp. as distinguished from those belonging to a fifth group considered to be outside it (see Dalit n., Scheduled Caste n. at scheduled adj. Compounds); now esp. in caste Hindu.

ΚΠ

1845 Missionary Herald Sept. 305/2 Two other caste men, who had been brought in from heathenism, came and ate with us..; also one leading man, who..was born of Christian parents, and had been a nominal and a caste Christian before he was received by us.

1881 Baptist Missionary Mag. Mar. 64/1 I believe this..is the cause of the slight hold Christianity has taken of the caste-people of India.

1927 North-China Herald 17 Dec. 511/5 Not many generations ago all the caste women of India were in purdah.

2016 Times of India (Nexis) 2 Aug. Some dalit youths tried to take photographs while caste Hindus were performing rituals inside the temple.

C3.

caste mark n. a symbol worn by a Hindu, typically made on the forehead with powder or paste, which indicates something about the wearer such as membership of a Hindu sect, devotion to a particular god, or (in the case of a woman) marital status (cf. bindi n., tika n., tilak n.); (more generally) anything regarded as a marker of a person's social status.Such symbols may be associated with particular castes or groups of castes and are often mistakenly believed to be directly indicative of caste.

ΚΠ

1807 Times 12 Jan. Further mischief is apprehended from the order for depriving the Sepoys of their cast marks.

1899 J. Conrad Let. 26 Oct. in E. Garnett Lett. from J. Conrad (1956) 157 I had no idea you wrote for that paper with a horrid caste-mark on its forepage.

1941 C. F. Kirkus Let's go Climbing! xiv. 177 At the temple at Gangotri red caste-marks were put on our foreheads.

2004 T. Khair Bus Stopped 117 The older men with caste marks on their forehead.

2016 Times (Nexis) 20 Jan. 10 If your red front door is a caste mark that invites daily scorn and contempt, why not paint it a different colour?

caste system n. a system of social stratification which divides a population into classes regarded as superior or inferior to one another, typically on the basis of ancestry; spec. the system of social organization traditional in some parts of South Asia (see sense 2); (in extended use) any system likened to this, esp. in being hierarchical or restrictive.

ΘΚΠ

society > society and the community > social class > [noun] > system of

class1804

caste1816

caste system1816

social ladder1817

casteism1852

class system1877

classhood1878

pecking order1935

status system1939

peck order1950

1816 G. S. Faber Origin Pagan Idolatry I. i. i. 82 Necessary descent from father to son which forms so striking a characteristic of the caste system.

1868 M. Pattison Suggestions Acad. Organisation §4. 73 By the abolition of the rank of ‘nobleman’..the last remnant of the caste system will be swept away.

1902 Edinb. Evening News 5 Aug. In South Africa the caste system is as rigorous as in India.

1953 Times of India 21 Apr. 3/3 The Maharashtra Social Conference..called for the abolition of the caste system and a charter of rights for women.

2016 Jrnl. Negro Educ. 85 97 Funding disparities create a caste system in higher education, whereby students at better-funded institutions benefit from enhanced facilities, equipment, and opportunities to earn income while studying.

Derivatives

ˈcastehood n. the state or condition of belonging to a caste; membership of a particular caste or class of people.

ΘΚΠ

society > society and the community > social class > [noun] > condition of belonging to a class

castehood1836

classiness1898

1836 Christian Advocate (London) 11 Jan. 10/3 First, simple minds abusing, his caste-hood he creates; Next, ghostly terror, using, he excommunicates.

1844 Christian Witness Sept. 425/2 The people here are held by their superiors in bonds firmer than the castehood in India.

1967 Middle East Jrnl. 21 333 Their limited functions and their military castehood had permitted them to remain aloof.

2010 Pioneer (India) (Nexis) 2 July The real consequence of caste-based ‘preferential policies’..is that the State has accorded a ‘legal’ status to the hoary tradition of hereditary castehood.

ˈcaste-like adj. characteristic of, resembling, or suggestive of a caste or caste system.

ΚΠ

1832 S. Austin tr. H. L. H. von Pückler-Muskau Tour German Prince IV. x. 372 In the relations and tone of society..everything is in the highest degree ultra-aristocratic—it is caste-like.

1902 Daily Herald (Delphos, Ohio) 27 Nov. 2/6 It is undemocratic and castelike to urge that the sons of the shoemaker and the stonemason should be educated only to be shoemakers and stonemasons.

1978 J. U. Ogbu Minority Educ. & Caste i. 28 Castelike minorities are generally restricted from participating in the more desirable social, political, and occupational positions.

2021 Libr. Leadership & Managem. 35 9 The kind of caste-like systems that emerge in a range of different organizations where some staff are empowered to develop innovative ideas while others are saddled with the burdens of maintaining and operating those organizations.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2022).

单词	caste
释义	casten. Brit. /kɑːst/, /kast/, U.S. /kæst/ Forms: 1500s–1800s cast, 1500s 1700s– caste. Origin: Of multiple origins. Partly a borrowing from Spanish. Partly a borrowing from Portuguese. Etymons: Spanish casta, Portuguese casta. Etymology: Partly (i) (originally) < Spanish casta breed or species of animal (15th cent.), class of people, lineage (c1500; in the former Spanish territories of the Americas also with specific reference to ethnic origin: 1748 in the passage translated in quot. 1758 at sense 5), and partly (ii) (in sense 2) < its cognate Portuguese casta class of people in India (1516; 15th cent. in sense ‘breed or species of animal’), both of uncertain origin, probably either (a) respectively < Spanish casta , feminine of casto pure, chaste, and its Portuguese cognate, < classical Latin castus (feminine casta ) pure, unpolluted (see chaste adj.; if so, apparently with associations of an unmixed lineage), or (b) < an unattested (probably Gothic) reflex of the Germanic base of Old Icelandic kǫstr pile, heap (see cast v.), via an assumed sense ‘group of animals’ (compare the semantic development of cast n. 14). Compare cast n. 40, from which early uses (especially in form cast) are sometimes difficult to distinguish. With sense 5 compare casta n.Compare Catalan casta , noun (15th cent.), cognate with the Spanish and Portuguese words, and also ( < Portuguese) French caste class of people (1615), class in Hindu society (1659), class in society more generally (1790), Dutch kaste group or class of people (1641 as casta with reference to the Portuguese people; 1743 with reference to India). In the form caste in later use probably reinforced by French caste. †1. A group or class of people regarded as having properties or attributes in common; esp. a group considered as having a common origin or comprising a nation, community, ethnic group, etc.; a people. Obsolete.In some contexts difficult to distinguish from other senses, esp. 2a and (in later use) 4a; see also cast n. 40a. ΘΚΠ the world > people > ethnicities > race > [noun] strindc900 bloodOE gest13.. strainc1330 nationa1382 kindc1390 markc1395 prosapy?a1475 stock1549 stem?c1550 caste1555 spring1597 race1612 issue1620 nationality1832 1555 W. Waterman tr. J. Boemus Fardle of Facions ii. i. 118 The Nabatheens..Their caste is wittye in winning of substaunce [L. in quaerendis opibus mira gentis industria]. 1596 W. Raleigh Discoverie Guiana 90 One sort of people called Tiuitiuas, but of two castes as they tearme them. 1615 W. Bedwell Arabian Trudgman in tr. Mohammedis Imposturæ sig. M^v, at Beni It is a word often read preposed before other words: which therefore do not properly signifie any set place: but rather some name of a family, nation, kinred, or cast as they call it. 1704 tr. A. de Ovalle Of Kingdom of Chile in A. Churchill & J. Churchill Coll. Voy. III. 5/1 Who are a cast of Men that are their Doctors. 1732 G. Berkeley Alciphron II. vi. ii. 6 All the various Casts or Sects of the sons of Men have each their Faith, and their religious System. 1812 G. A. Thompson Geogr. & Hist. Dict. Amer. & W. Indies II. 440/2 Mangaches, a cast of Zambos, descendants of the Indians and Negroes. 2. a. Any of the (usually hereditary) classes or social ranks into which Hindu society is traditionally divided; a class of this sort forming part of a hierarchical social structure traditional in some parts of South Asia; (sometimes) spec. any of the four classes of the varna system (cf. varna n.).The ancient Hindu texts discuss four classes or varnas (see varna n.) which have social functions. While the varnas are constantly four in number, and are not always considered hereditary, there are hundreds of other caste divisions, whose status in relation to the varnas is often disputed (cf. jati n. 2). Membership of a caste is traditionally determined by paternity, and dictates marriage, employment possibilities, and social interaction according to a system that ranks occupations and activities by their degree of spiritual pollution. Those tasks perceived as the most polluting have traditionally been undertaken by a fifth group considered to be outside the varna system (cf. Dalit n., Scheduled Caste n. at scheduled adj. Compounds).Often with modifying word expressing ranking within a hierarchy, as higher, lower, etc. ΘΚΠ society > society and the community > social class > [noun] > distinction of class > level or grade > a Hindu caste castea1624 class1794 varna1883 a1624 N. Withington in S. Purchas Pilgrimes (1625) I. iv. viii. 485 The Banians kill nothing: there are thirtie and odde seuerall Casts of these that differ something in Religion, and may not eat with each other; but all burne their dead. 1731 tr. Comte de Forbin Memoirs I. 206 Among all these Casts or Tribes, the most contemptible is that of the Shoe-makers, excepting that call'd Paria. 1763 R. Orme Hist. Mil. Trans. Brit. Nation I. i. 81 They are little superior in courage to the lower casts of Indians, and greatly inferior to the higher casts. 1838 Penny Cycl. XII. 230/1 The division of Hindus into..castes..existed from the earliest times. In Sanskrit they are called varnas, that is ‘colours’. 1857 G. Barrow Ceylon iii. 77 There are sundry castes prevailing in Ceylon; the highest comprises the noblemen, who are frequently very poor, while those of lower castes are comparatively wealthy. 1887 W. J. Wilkins Mod. Hinduism vi. 84 Each of the four great Hindu castes. 1910 Times 29 July 5/6 The pollution of bodily contact with the ‘untouchable’ castes. 1988 Proc. Indian Hist. Congr. 49 324 Nearly all castes of Sikhs were represented in towns and cities..but their proportion in the urban population was rather small. 2014 S. Dharmapala Saree (2015) 326 Her life was not easy, but as a devadasi she had..escaped the brutal stigmatisation of her caste. b. A person's rank or position as defined by membership of a caste (sense 2a); hierarchical ranking of this sort operating as a social institution or system.Often with modifying word expressing the ranking. ΘΚΠ society > society and the community > social class > [noun] > distinction of class > level or grade > a Hindu caste > position it confers caste1756 1756 Jrnl. Voy. East Indies 13 The vulgar Notion they have is, that the Wife loses her Cast, if she refuses to burn, and is thrown out and despised by her Family. 1807 Missionary Mag. Jan. 42 We told him..that all men would one day become Christians, and that difference of caste would be wholly abolished. 1818 Times 3 Oct. To this god..a man and a woman of low caste, made a vow. 1858 J. B. Norton Topics for Indian Statesmen 181 The stationary institutions of India, especially that of caste. 1909 M. Diver Candles in Wind iv. 45 A creature without either the birthright of caste, or the prestige of Sahib-dom. 1961 Sunday Times 1 Oct. (Magazine section) 32/2 Mr. Mohun Biswas, a Hindu of high caste and low fortune. 2016 A. Verma Broken Man 159 If it wasn't for my caste and poverty, no one could have separated us. 3. a. A breed or variety of (domesticated) animal, esp. regarded in terms of superiority or inferiority to others.In later use frequently simply an extended use of sense 2a. ΘΚΠ the world > life > biology > taxonomy > taxon > [noun] > species or sub-species > of animals nationa1382 race1566 caste1759 1759 W. Rider New Universal Eng. Dict. Breed, a species of animals; a cast; or kind. Offspring, applied to mankind. That which is produced at one hatching. 1799 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 89 205 The Asiatic elephant... Both males and females are divided into two casts, by the natives of Bengal, viz. the koomareah and the merghee. 1841 C. H. Smith Nat. Hist. Horses (Naturalist's Libr.: Mammalia XII) 268 None..exceeded in stature a large mule, but they had much greater breadth at the hips, and with their short ears and sunken eyes, really looked like a low caste of French horses, excepting the legs, pasterns, joints, and hoofs. 2000 T. Hall To Elephant Graveyard (2001) vii. 168 White or yellow eyes, he explained, are anathema to the elephant connoisseur. ‘It is a sign that he is dangerous... Even though he is of a high caste, no phandi would ever capture him in the wild.’ 2007 M. Fields-Babineau Mixed Breeds for Dummies i. 11 The story of mixed-breed dogs is often a sad one. Many people see them as a lower caste of animal—with no heritage and an unknown future. b. Zoology. Each of several classes or types of individual present in the communities of animals with a highly developed social (eusocial) organization, such as ants, termites, or certain mole-rats, being characterized by their behaviour and their role in reproduction, and often morphologically distinct. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > [noun] > member of > defined as social insect or association of > class in community caste1832 1832 E. Griffith et al. Cuvier's Animal Kingdom XV. 345 It is fair to conclude that the soldiers compose a peculiar caste [of termites], and represent, in some measure in genus, the neuters of the ants and bees. 1859 C. Darwin Origin of Species vii. 238 The castes [of ants]..do not generally graduate into each other, but are perfectly well defined; being as distinct from each other, as are any two species of the same genus. 1922 W. M. Wheeler in Sci. Monthly July 69 In the social wasps we witness the first gradual development of a worker caste and also of polygyny and swarming. 1987 New Scientist 30 July 42/1 All the young ones [sc. mole-rats] joined this group at about three months of age, but some grew fast and moved up into the next caste, while others grew only slowly and stayed as ‘frequent workers’ throughout their lives. 2005 Nature 3 Mar. 36/2 Eusocial animals exhibit such characteristics as division of reproductive labour between castes, cohabiting generations and cooperative behaviour. 4. In extended use. a. A distinct class or rank in any society, esp. one characterized by hereditary exclusivity. More generally: any group of people considered as forming a socially or economically distinct, exclusive, or restricted unit. ΘΚΠ society > society and the community > social class > [noun] estatec1230 statec1300 rowa1350 qualityc1425 calling1477 range1494 line1528 stature1533 respect1601 station1603 gradationa1616 ordinancea1616 repute1615 spherea1616 distance1635 impression1639 civils1650 footing1657 regimen1660 order1667 sect1709 caste1791 status1818 position1829 social status1833 standpoint1875 society > society and the community > social class > nobility > aristocracy or upper class > [noun] optimacy1579 aristocracy1651 great world1699 peerage1725 well-connected1788 governing class1795 patriciate1795 well-connected1831 caste1842 (the) salt of the earth1842 the leisured class(es1848 japonicadom1851 countyocracy1859 masterclass1861 proprietariat1872 four hundred1888 the Establishment1923 gratin1934 power élite1942 U1954 upper1955 topside1958 1791 J. Mackintosh Vindiciæ Gallicæ iv. 255 In France they [sc. the Nobles] formed an immense insulated cast, separated from society by every barrier that prejudice or policy could raise. 1808 C. Vancouver Gen. View Agric. Devon Concl. 468 The peasant's mind should never be inspired with a desire to amend his circumstances by the quitting of his cast. 1842 Ld. Tennyson Lady Clara Vere de Vere in Poems (new ed.) I. 157 Her manners had not that repose Which stamps the caste of Vere de Vere. 1885 Proc. Royal Geogr. Soc. 7 628 The Midgans are found living among all the Somali tribes, and are very much looked down upon. There are two other low castes: The Tomals, workers in iron, and the Ebir, workers in leather charms. 1910 C. Hamilton Theory of Theatre 50 The trouble with French tragedy..is that it was written only for the finest caste of society. 1965 Human Organization 24 329/1 The warrior (samurai) caste..supplied the largest percentage of recruits into the fields of government bureaucracy, police, and education. 2020 N.Y. Times (Nexis) 1 Dec. (Opinion section) We are slowly creating a caste of permanently undocumented Latino people in the United States. b. Status, position, or rank within a community or social hierarchy; (also) a hierarchical system of social organization based on this. ΘΚΠ society > society and the community > social class > [noun] > system of class1804 caste1816 caste system1816 social ladder1817 casteism1852 class system1877 classhood1878 pecking order1935 status system1939 peck order1950 society > society and the community > social class > [noun] > distinction of class > level or grade mannishOE placec1330 state1340 gree1382 conditionc1384 sectc1384 sortc1386 ordera1400 raff?a1400 degreea1425 countenancec1477 faction?1529 estate1530 race1563 calibre1567 being1579 coat1579 rang1580 rank1585 tier1590 classis1597 strain1600 consequence1602 regiment1602 sept1610 standinga1616 class1629 species1629 nome1633 quality1636 sort1671 size1679 situation1710 distinction1721 walk of life1733 walk1737 stage1801 strata1805 grade1808 caste1816 social stratum1838 station1842 stratum1863 echelon1950 1816 Times 8 July 3/2 Blunted sensibility—renewed excesses—loss of cast in society—follow each other in melancholy succession. 1870 R. W. Emerson Civilization in Wks. (1906) III. 9 The diffusion of knowledge, overrunning all the old barriers of caste. 1904 L. Hearn Japan: Attempt at Interpr. xii. 260 Caste would not seem to have developed any very rigid structure in Japan; and there were early tendencies to a confusion of the kabané. 2014 N.Y. Times Mag. 12 Oct. 14/1 Racialized slavery was only the first in a series of ‘peculiar institutions’..to enforce caste and class in the United States. 5. In contexts relating to Spanish territories in the Americas in the 18th and early 19th centuries: any of several groups or classes of people distinguished chiefly on the basis of racial heritage or descent; (occasionally) a person of mixed heritage belonging to such a group. Now historical.The Spanish term casta is now more often used in discussions of this topic; cf. casta n.In quot. 1758, perhaps a general use in sense 1 used to render the Spanish word. ΚΠ 1758 J. Adams tr. A. de Ulloa Voy. S.-Amer. I. i. iv. 30 Its inhabitants..may be divided into different casts or tribes [Sp. varias Castas], who derive their origin from a coalition of whites, negroes and Indians.] 1824 J. R. Poinsett Notes on Mexico x. 120 The castes, that is to say, the mestizos, descendants of whites and Indians; mulattoes, descendants of whites and negroes; samboes, descendants of negroes and Indians—are scattered all over the country. 1827 R. Bache Notes on Colombia xiv. 257 Most of the inhabitants are blacks or casts; the Alcalde being a man of colour. 1959 I. A. Leonard Baroque Times in Old Mexico (1993) iii. 51 The heterogeneous nature of this large segment of society is abundantly clear, a condition accentuated by a confusing array of castes into which it divided. 2019 Hispania 102 590 Many vectors come together in Mulattos' and other castes' evolving identities. Phrases to lose caste: to be ostracized from or censured by one's caste, typically for behaviour considered unacceptable to that group; to lose the social position and status conferred by membership of a caste; (hence, in extended use) to fall in the estimation of a community, society, or group; to decline in reputation. ΘΚΠ society > society and the community > social class > be ranked socially [verb (intransitive)] > lose class to lose caste1794 the mind > emotion > humility > humiliation > be humiliated [verb (intransitive)] to light lowc1225 to lie lowa1275 to carry (also bear) coalsa1529 to eat the (or one's) leek1600 to lose caste1828 to eat dirt1857 1794 W. Carey Let. 3 Jan. in Baptist Reg. for 1794–7 (?1797) 163 One of the Rev. Mr. Brown's people at Calcutta..told him that if he would be baptized, and lose Cast, he would give him some support. 1814 M. M. Sherwood Hist. Little Henry & his Bearer 126 He has lost cast for becoming a Christian. 1828 M. R. Mitford Our Village III. 179 A natural fear of losing caste among her neighbours. 1930 J. B. Priestley Angel Pavement iii. 106 It is one of the smallest and dreariest of squares, and is rapidly losing caste. 1974 Jrnl. Southeast Asian Stud. 5 142 The Mutiny of the Bengal Sepoys, in 1824, over fear of losing caste by crossing the Bay of Bengal. 2002 Independent 29 Oct. 14/1 Candida has ‘lost caste’ by buying a small flat at the wrong end of Ladbroke Grove, dark, dirty and menacing. Compounds C1. As a modifier with the sense ‘of, relating to, or on the grounds of caste’, as in caste discrimination, caste feeling, etc.; also with the sense ‘by caste’, as in caste-bound, caste-ridden adjs. ΚΠ 1818 Let. 29 July in E. India Affairs: Papers relating to Police, & Civil & Criminal Justice (1819) 325 in Parl. Papers (H.C. 533) XIII. 479 Under the cloak of upholding caste customs, from malignant or vindictive motives. 1855 E. Blyth Let. 4 Aug. in C. Darwin Corr. (1988) V. 399 The..priest-and caste-ridden Hindus. 1875 P. G. Hamerton Intellect. Life (ed. 2) viii. i. 279 The caste-feeling in one class or another. 1932 Current Hist. 37 218/2 His [sc. Gandhi's] purpose was..to reiterate to the British his determination to end caste discrimination against the Untouchables. 1955 T. H. Pear Eng. Social Differences 133 The mass of Americans..took it for granted that the typical Briton is essentially a caste-bound snob. 2019 P. Theroux On Plain of Snakes iv. 373 In the caste-conscious Mexican mind, Amurabi was a mestizo, that ethnic group of shifting definitions. C2. As a modifier, designating a person who adheres to or follows the strictures of a caste system; spec. (in or with reference to Hindu society) designating a person or group belonging to one of the four classes or castes of the varna system (see sense 2), esp. as distinguished from those belonging to a fifth group considered to be outside it (see Dalit n., Scheduled Caste n. at scheduled adj. Compounds); now esp. in caste Hindu. ΚΠ 1845 Missionary Herald Sept. 305/2 Two other caste men, who had been brought in from heathenism, came and ate with us..; also one leading man, who..was born of Christian parents, and had been a nominal and a caste Christian before he was received by us. 1881 Baptist Missionary Mag. Mar. 64/1 I believe this..is the cause of the slight hold Christianity has taken of the caste-people of India. 1927 North-China Herald 17 Dec. 511/5 Not many generations ago all the caste women of India were in purdah. 2016 Times of India (Nexis) 2 Aug. Some dalit youths tried to take photographs while caste Hindus were performing rituals inside the temple. C3. caste mark n. a symbol worn by a Hindu, typically made on the forehead with powder or paste, which indicates something about the wearer such as membership of a Hindu sect, devotion to a particular god, or (in the case of a woman) marital status (cf. bindi n., tika n., tilak n.); (more generally) anything regarded as a marker of a person's social status.Such symbols may be associated with particular castes or groups of castes and are often mistakenly believed to be directly indicative of caste. ΚΠ 1807 Times 12 Jan. Further mischief is apprehended from the order for depriving the Sepoys of their cast marks. 1899 J. Conrad Let. 26 Oct. in E. Garnett Lett. from J. Conrad (1956) 157 I had no idea you wrote for that paper with a horrid caste-mark on its forepage. 1941 C. F. Kirkus Let's go Climbing! xiv. 177 At the temple at Gangotri red caste-marks were put on our foreheads. 2004 T. Khair Bus Stopped 117 The older men with caste marks on their forehead. 2016 Times (Nexis) 20 Jan. 10 If your red front door is a caste mark that invites daily scorn and contempt, why not paint it a different colour? caste system n. a system of social stratification which divides a population into classes regarded as superior or inferior to one another, typically on the basis of ancestry; spec. the system of social organization traditional in some parts of South Asia (see sense 2); (in extended use) any system likened to this, esp. in being hierarchical or restrictive. ΘΚΠ society > society and the community > social class > [noun] > system of class1804 caste1816 caste system1816 social ladder1817 casteism1852 class system1877 classhood1878 pecking order1935 status system1939 peck order1950 1816 G. S. Faber Origin Pagan Idolatry I. i. i. 82 Necessary descent from father to son which forms so striking a characteristic of the caste system. 1868 M. Pattison Suggestions Acad. Organisation §4. 73 By the abolition of the rank of ‘nobleman’..the last remnant of the caste system will be swept away. 1902 Edinb. Evening News 5 Aug. In South Africa the caste system is as rigorous as in India. 1953 Times of India 21 Apr. 3/3 The Maharashtra Social Conference..called for the abolition of the caste system and a charter of rights for women. 2016 Jrnl. Negro Educ. 85 97 Funding disparities create a caste system in higher education, whereby students at better-funded institutions benefit from enhanced facilities, equipment, and opportunities to earn income while studying. Derivatives ˈcastehood n. the state or condition of belonging to a caste; membership of a particular caste or class of people. ΘΚΠ society > society and the community > social class > [noun] > condition of belonging to a class castehood1836 classiness1898 1836 Christian Advocate (London) 11 Jan. 10/3 First, simple minds abusing, his caste-hood he creates; Next, ghostly terror, using, he excommunicates. 1844 Christian Witness Sept. 425/2 The people here are held by their superiors in bonds firmer than the castehood in India. 1967 Middle East Jrnl. 21 333 Their limited functions and their military castehood had permitted them to remain aloof. 2010 Pioneer (India) (Nexis) 2 July The real consequence of caste-based ‘preferential policies’..is that the State has accorded a ‘legal’ status to the hoary tradition of hereditary castehood. ˈcaste-like adj. characteristic of, resembling, or suggestive of a caste or caste system. ΚΠ 1832 S. Austin tr. H. L. H. von Pückler-Muskau Tour German Prince IV. x. 372 In the relations and tone of society..everything is in the highest degree ultra-aristocratic—it is caste-like. 1902 Daily Herald (Delphos, Ohio) 27 Nov. 2/6 It is undemocratic and castelike to urge that the sons of the shoemaker and the stonemason should be educated only to be shoemakers and stonemasons. 1978 J. U. Ogbu Minority Educ. & Caste i. 28 Castelike minorities are generally restricted from participating in the more desirable social, political, and occupational positions. 2021 Libr. Leadership & Managem. 35 9 The kind of caste-like systems that emerge in a range of different organizations where some staff are empowered to develop innovative ideas while others are saddled with the burdens of maintaining and operating those organizations. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2022). † castev. Forms: Also kastin. Etymology: A doublet of chaste v.; < Old Northern French castier (modern French châtier < classical Latin castigāre castigate v. Obsolete. rare. To chasten, chastise. ΘΚΠ society > authority > punishment > [verb (transitive)] > inflict disciplinary or corrective punishment thewc1175 castea1200 chaste?c1225 amendc1300 chastyc1320 chastise1362 corrigec1374 correct1377 scourgec1384 disple1492 orderc1515 nurturec1520 chasten1526 whip1530 discipline1557 school1559 swinge1560 penance1580 disciple1596 castigatea1616 to serve out1829 the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > disapproval > rebuke or reproof > rebuke or reprove [verb (transitive)] threac897 threapc897 begripea1000 threata1000 castea1200 chaste?c1225 takec1275 blame1297 chastya1300 sniba1300 withnima1315 undernima1325 rebukec1330 snuba1340 withtakea1340 reprovec1350 chastisea1375 arate1377 challenge1377 undertake1377 reprehenda1382 repreync1390 runta1398 snapea1400 underfoc1400 to call to account1434 to put downc1440 snebc1440 uptakec1440 correptc1449 reformc1450 reprise?c1450 to tell (a person) his (also her, etc.) own1450 control1451 redarguec1475 berisp1481 to hit (cross) one over (of, on) the thumbs1522 checkc1530 admonish1541 nip1548 twig?1550 impreve1552 lesson1555 to take down1562 to haul (a person) over the coals1565 increpate1570 touch1570 school1573 to gather up1577 task1580 redarguate?1590 expostulate1592 tutor1599 sauce1601 snip1601 sneap1611 to take in tax1635 to sharp up1647 round1653 threapen1671 reprimand1681 to take to task1682 document1690 chapter1693 repulse1746 twink1747 to speak to ——1753 haul1795 to pull up1799 carpet1840 rig1841 to talk to1860 to take (a person) to the woodshed1882 rawhide1895 to tell off1897 to tell (someone) where he or she gets off1900 to get on ——1904 to put (a person) in (also into) his, her place1908 strafe1915 tick1915 woodshed1935 to slap (a person) down1938 sort1941 bind1942 bottle1946 mat1948 ream1950 zap1961 elder1967 a1200 MS Trin. Cambr. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 137 Mid softnesse he castede þe sinfulle. a1225 (c1200) Vices & Virtues (1888) 143 He besohte at gode þat naht ne scolde reinin, for ðe folke to kastin. This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1889; most recently modified version published online December 2021). < n.1555v.a1200
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casten.

Phrases

Compounds

Derivatives

† castev.