caste

• POS: Noun

CIDE DICTIONARY

caste, n. [Pg. casta race, lineage, fr. L. castus pure, chaste: cf. F. caste, of same origin.].

•  One of the hereditary classes into which the Hindu are divided according to the laws of Brahmanism.  [1913 Webster]

  " The members of the same caste are theoretically of equal rank, and same profession or occupation, and may not eat or intermarry with those not of their own caste. The original are four, viz., the Brahmans, or sacerdotal order; the Kshatriyas, or soldiers and rulers; the Vaisyas, or husbandmen and merchants; and the Sudras, or laborers and mechanics. Men of no caste are Pariahs, outcasts. Numerous mixed classes, or castes, have sprung up in the progress of time."  [1913 Webster]
•  A separate and fixed order or class of persons in society who chiefly hold intercourse among themselves.  [1913 Webster]

  "The tinkers then formed an hereditary caste."  [1913 Webster]

To lose caste, to be degraded from the caste to which one has belonged; to lose social position or consideration.

OXFORD DICTIONARY

caste, n.
1 any of the Hindu hereditary classes whose members have no social contact with other classes, but are socially equal with one another and often follow the same occupations.
2 a more or less exclusive social class.
3 a system of such classes.
4 the position it confers.
5 Zool. a form of social insect having a particular function.

Idiom

caste mark a symbol on the forehead denoting a person's caste. lose caste descend in the social order.

Etymology

Sp. and Port. casta lineage, race, breed, fem. of casto pure, CHASTE

THESAURUS

caste

ashram, blood, body, bracket, branch, category, clan, class, colony, commonwealth, commune, community, condition, division, echelon, economic class, endogamous group, estate, extended family, family, footing, gens, grade, group, grouping, head, heading, hierarchy, kin, kinship group, label, level, moiety, nuclear family, order, phratria, phratry, phyle, pigeonhole, place, position, power structure, precedence, predicament, race, rank, rate, rating, rubric, section, sept, set, settlement, social class, society, sphere, stage, standing, station, status, strain, stratum, subcaste, subdivision, subgroup, suborder, title, totem

ROGET THESAURUS

caste

Class

N class, division, category, categorema, head, order, section, department, subdepartment, province, domain, kind, sort, genus, species, variety, family, order, kingdom, race, tribe, caste, sept, clan, breed, type, subtype, kit, sect, set, subset, assortment, feather, kidney, suit, range, gender, sex, kin, manner, description, denomination, designation, rubric, character, stamp predicament, indication, particularization, selection, specification, similarity.

Repute

N repute, distinction, mark, name, figure, repute, reputation, good repute, high repute, note, notability, notoriety, eclat, the bubble reputation, vogue, celebrity, fame, famousness, renown, popularity, aura popularis, approbation, credit, succes d'estime, prestige, talk of the town, name to conjure with, glory, honor, luster, illustriousness, account, regard, respect, reputableness, respectability, good name, good report, fair name, dignity, stateliness, solemnity, grandeur, splendor, nobility, majesty, sublimity, rank, standing, brevet rank, precedence, pas, station, place, status, position, position in society, order, degree, baccalaureate, locus standi, caste, condition, greatness, eminence, height, importance, preeminence, supereminence, high mightiness, primacy, top of the ladder, top of the tree, elevation, ascent, superaltation, exaltation, dignification, aggrandizement, dedication, consecration, enthronement, canonization, celebration, enshrinement, glorification, hero, man of mark, great card, celebrity, worthy, lion, rara avis, notability, somebody, classman, man of rank, pillar of the state, pillar of the church, pillar of the community, chief, first fiddle, cynosure, mirror, flower, pink, pearl, paragon, choice and master spirits of the age, elite, star, sun, constellation, galaxy, ornament, honor, feather in one's cap, halo, aureole, nimbus, halo of glory, blaze of glory, blushing honors, laurels, memory, posthumous fame, niche in the temple of fame, immortality, immortal name, magni nominis umbra, distinguished, distingue, noted, of note, honored, popular, fashionable, in good odor in, favor, in high favor, reputable, respectable, creditable, remarkable, notable, notorious, celebrated, renowned, ion every one's mouth, talked of, famous, famed, far-famed, conspicuous, to the front, foremost, in the front rank, in the ascendant, imperishable, deathless, immortal, never fading, aere perennius, time honored, illustrious, glorious, splendid, brilliant, radiant, bright, full-blown, honorific, eminent, prominent, high, in the zenith, at the head of, at the top of the tree, peerless, of the first water, superior, supereminent, preeminent, great, dignified, proud, noble, honorable, worshipful, lordly, grand, stately, august, princely, imposing, solemn, transcendent, majestic, sacred, sublime, heaven- born, heroic, sans peur et sans reproche, sacrosanct, Int, hail!, all hail!, ave!, viva!, vive!, long life to!, banzai!, glory be to, honor be to?, one's name being in every mouth, one's name living for ever, sic itur ad astra, fama volat, aut Caesar aut nullus, not to know him argues oneself unknown, none but himself could be his parallel, palmam qui meruit ferat, above all Greek above all Roman fame, cineri gloria sera est, great is the glory for the strife is hard, honor virtutis praemium, immensum gloria calcar habet, the glory dies not and the grief is past, vivit post funera virtus.