caste

Meaning

Noun

• Any of the hereditary social classes and subclasses of South Asian societies.
• A separate and fixed order or class of persons in society who chiefly associate with each other.
• A class of polymorphous eusocial insects of a particular size and function within a colony.

Origin

• Borrowed from Portuguese or Spanish casta ("lineage, breed, race"), of uncertain origin. The OED derives it from Portuguese casto, from Latin castus.
• Coromines (1987) argues instead for a hypothetical Gothic form *𐌺𐌰𐍃𐍄𐍃, cognate with English cast, from Proto-Germanic *kastuz.