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caste

UK:^*^*UK and possibly other pronunciationsUK and possibly other pronunciations/ˈkɑːst/US:USA pronunciation: IPA and respellingUSA pronunciation: IPA/kæst/ ,USA pronunciation: respelling(kast, käst)

caste /kæst/USA pronunciation n.

Eastern Religions[countable] any of the social divisions of Hindu society.
Sociology a social division limited to people of the same rank, occupation, etc., by birth:[countable]castes of rich and poor.
Sociology[uncountable] the rigid system of dividing or distinguishing among people in social groups in these ways.
Sociology[uncountable] social position conferred upon one by a caste system: to lose caste.

caste (kast, käst),USA pronunciation n.

Sociology
- an endogamous and hereditary social group limited to persons of the same rank, occupation, economic position, etc., and having mores distinguishing it from other such groups.
- any rigid system of social distinctions.
Eastern Religions[Hinduism.]any of the social divisions into which Hindu society is traditionally divided, each caste having its own privileges and limitations, transferred by inheritance from one generation to the next;
jati. Cf. class. (def. 13).
Physical Anthropology, Sociologyany class or group of society sharing common cultural features:low caste; high caste.
Sociologysocial position conferred upon one by a caste system:to lose caste.
Insects[Entomol.]one of the distinct forms among polymorphous social insects, performing a specialized function in the colony, as a queen, worker or soldier.

adj.

Sociologyof, pertaining to, or characterized by caste:a caste society;a caste system;a caste structure.

Latin castus pure, chaste
Portuguese casta race, breed, noun, nominal use of casta, feminine of casto
1545–55

caste′ism, n.
caste′less, adj.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

caste /kɑːst/ n

any of the four major hereditary classes, namely the Brahman, Kshatriya, Vaisya, and Sudra into which Hindu society was traditionally divided
Also called: caste system the system or basis of such classes
the social position or rank conferred by this system
any social class or system based on such distinctions as heredity, rank, wealth, profession, etc
the position conferred by such a system
any of various types of specialized individual, such as the worker, in social insects (hive bees, ants, etc)

Etymology: 16th Century: from Portuguese casta race, breed, ancestry, from casto pure, chaste, from Latin castusˈcasted adj ˈcasteism n

'caste' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):

banyan - Brahman - Brahmanism - chaste - half-caste - Hinduism - jedi - Kshatriya - outcaste - pariah - Rajput - Romany - samurai - stratum - tilak - Ahir - apartheid - aristo - barrier - caste mark - class - griot - gymnosophist - hypergamy - jati - khatri - Koli - kurmi - reproductive - Rom - Thakur - treat - untouchability - untouchable - worker - Shudra - Sikh - soldier - stratification - subcaste

Synonyms: station, cultural level, social stratum, class, rank, more...

🗣️Forum discussions with the word(s) "caste" in the title:

A caste is a social class which/that/where...
a weary dignity of caste
butting his bullethead against the structure of caste
caste / class
Caste matrix
He is not of your order: keep to your caste and be too self-respecting to
isolated caste relations
The producer wanted a young caste for his new musical.
To whom did the priestly caste decide what should be taught?

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⇱ caste - WordReference.com Dictionary of English

caste