castecaste /kɑːst $ kæst/ noun [countable, uncountable] 
the caste system2a group of people who have the same position in society
WORD ORIGINcaste
Origin:
1500-1600 Portuguese casta ‘race’, from casto ‘pure’, from Latin castus; ➔ CHASTEEXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- Buddha was a social reformer who condemned India's caste system.
- In the south of India there are up to 20 different castes.
- If they married outside their own caste, they could be put to death.
- The money was not distributed fairly, but too often financed artificial luxury on the part of a particular caste.
- They show remarkable adaptations, from the migrations of birds to the slave-making castes of ants.
- This Army caste is oppressing us greatly.
- Though caste often performed this stabilizing economic function, its origin was political and its sanction religious.
- We are a very strong caste, a gypsy caste.
- Women from the Chosa caste would only accept a cook from their caste and above.
Longman Language Activatorsomeone's social class
the social group that you belong to because of your job, the type of family you come from, or the amount of money you have: · Success in this country seems to be based on class rather than on ability.· the professional and managerial classesthe class system (=the system by which society is divided into classes): · The old class system is slowly disappearing.social class (=the class in society you come from): · There is a clear link between social class and educational achievement.class distinctions (=differences between social classes): · Some people argue that class distinctions do not exist in the U.S., but this is untrue.
the type of home and family you come from, and its social class: · The school takes kids from all sorts of backgrounds.· We come from the same town and share a similar background.working-class/middle-class etc background: · The organization helps children from working-class backgrounds to go to university.
someone's position in society, according to how much other people respect them, especially because of the kind of job they have: · Now that he was a bank manager, he wanted a car that would reflect his status.high/low status: · Many mothers feel that they have very low status in today's society.status symbol (=something that someone owns in order to show their high status): · The latest mobile phones have become status symbols among teenagers.
a fixed division of people in society according to the family they are born into, especially within the Hindu religion: · In the south of India there are up to 20 different castes.caste system: · Buddha was a social reformer who condemned India's caste system.
WORD SETSabdicate, verbaffirmative action, nounage discrimination, nounageism, nounalienation, nounalmshouse, nounbackground, nounbeatnik, nounbeggar, nounbetterment, nounbirthrate, nounbohemian, adjectivebondage, nouncarer, nouncaretaker, nouncase work, nouncaste, nouncity planning, nouncommoner, nounconditioning, nounconsumer society, nounculture, noundisease, noundosser, noundoss house, noundown-and-out, noundownwardly mobile, adjectiveeuthanasia, nounformative, adjectivegenteel, adjectivegentlefolk, noungentleman, noungentlewoman, noungentry, noungeriatric, adjectivegerontology, noungrey, adjectivehermit, nounhierarchy, nounhippie, nounHonourable, adjectiveindependence, nounindustrialism, nouninequality, nouninfrastructure, nouninner city, nouninstitution, nouninstitutionalize, verbintegrate, verbliteracy, nounlower class, nounlow life, nounmatrix, nounmeritocracy, nounmobile, adjectivemores, nounmortality, nounNew Age traveller, nounorder, nounoutreach, nounpatriarchy, nounpecking order, nounpeer pressure, nounpetty bourgeois, adjectiveplebeian, nounpolitics, nounprogress, nounrank, nounreaction, nounrear, verbreceive, verbredneck, nounrevolution, nounsecularism, nounservice, nounsexual, adjectivesister, nounslave, nounslavery, nounsnowbird, nounsocial, adjectivesocial, nounsocialization, nounsocial science, nounsocial studies, nounsocial work, nounsocial worker, nounsociety, nounsocio-, prefixsocioeconomic, adjectivesoup kitchen, nounstratified, adjectivestratum, nounstreet people, nounsubgroup, nounsuburbanite, nounsuburbia, nounsupport group, nountownie, nountown meeting, nountown planning, nountownspeople, nountramp, noununattached, adjectiveuncle, noununconventional, adjectiveunderclass, nounupwardly mobile, adjectivewhite-collar, adjectiveworking class, noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES No one is casting aspersions on you or your men, Major. She blushed, casting her eyes down.COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADJECTIVE
1one of the fixed social classes, which cannot be changed, into which people are born in India: No one is casting aspersions on you or your men, Major. She blushed, casting her eyes down.· The higher castes often attempted, though not always successfully, to create their own cordonsanitaire about them when travelling.· Temporal and spiritual power was divided between the two highest castes.· The Brahmins or priests, members of the highest caste, personified purity, sanctity and holiness.
· They could never be of lower caste than herself and the principle of lineage exogamy applied.· The Kutchi Rabaris, for example, being a slightly lower sub caste of his own caste, aroused his disapproval.· He molested her for 72 hours before he was shot dead by his lower-caste subordinate, Vikram Mallah.· Mehta warmed to the one historian he met who did not consider journalists a lower caste.· The largest of the lower castes was the Vahumpura, which numbered perhaps six percent of the Sinhalese population.· They were incensed that some one from the lower caste should have become leader of their gang.· She married, converted to a form of Buddhism and entered politics, forming a new party for the lower castes.· In coastal areas social mobility led some lower castes and classes to assert themselves against headmen.
· They blew up trains, ransacked upper-caste homes and carried out a series of kidnappings and murders.· Some texts heighten irrational thinking and glorify upper-caste Hindu symbols.
NOUN· By 1872 the old caste system had been abolished.· He fails to persuade Hindus to repudiate the divisive and unjust social caste system.· Thus, the development of democracy has altered but not displaced traditional identities based on the caste system and religious divisions.· The worst aspect of Hinduism is undoubtedly the caste system, which kept the population cooped up in so many separate compartments.· They would be segregated from members of the caste system and lived on the outskirts of villages or in their own communities.· Basically, it consists of: Traditional caste systems in which roles are assigned at birth and enforced by social sanctions.· In the caste system social closure is achieved through prohibitions which prevent members of a caste from marrying outside their caste.· I abhor smugness, passivity, caste system. write with recent photo.
the caste system2a group of people who have the same position in society