caste
noun /kɑːst/
/kæst/
- [countable] any of the four main divisions of Hindu society, originally those made according to functions in society
- the caste system
- high-caste Brahmins
Extra Examples- He belongs to one of the highest castes.
- low-caste families
- the Hindu caste system
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- high
- low
- belong to
- system
- a member of a caste
- of high caste
- of low caste
- …
- [countable] a social class, especially one whose members do not allow others to join it
- the ruling caste
- [uncountable] the system of dividing society into classes based on differences in family origin, rank or wealthTopics People in societyc2 see also half-caste
Word Originmid 16th cent. (in the general sense ‘race, breed’): from Spanish and Portuguese casta ‘lineage, race, breed’, feminine of casto ‘pure, unmixed’, from Latin castus ‘chaste’.