Definitions
Hereditary social class within a rigid hierarchy.
Word origin
Borrowed from Portuguese or Spanish casta (“lineage, breed, race”), which the OED derives from Portuguese casto (“chaste”), from Latin castus (“chaste"; "chastity”), Coromines (1987) argues instead for a hypothetical Gothic form *𐌺𐌰𐍃𐍄𐍃 (*kasts, “group, collection of animals”), cognate with English cast, from Proto-Germanic *kastuz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ǵ-es-.
Used in a sentence
“Pakistan is a conservative, religious state. The Edhi Foundation is unusual in its ignoring of caste, creed, religion and sect. This strict stance has led to some criticism from religious groups.”
“'I believe, Messieurs, in loyalty - to one's friends and one's family and one's caste.'”
“The tinkers then formed a hereditary caste.”
Source: Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0
Used as a crossword answer1 curated clues
01“Social class”5 letters
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