What does caste mean?
A caste is a hereditary social class into which a person is born, most famously associated with the traditional Hindu social order of India, where castes have long governed marriage, occupation, and ritual standing. The term also applies by analogy to any rigidly stratified society, as well as to the functional divisions within insect colonies, where workers, soldiers, and queens form separate castes. Unlike socioeconomic class, which people may rise or fall within over a lifetime, caste is traditionally fixed at birth, making it a powerful symbol of inherited inequality in both scholarly and everyday usage. In modern India, caste-based discrimination has been constitutionally abolished, yet caste continues to influence politics, marriage, and identity, keeping the word prominent in journalism and public debate. Derived from the Portuguese casta, meaning lineage or pure stock, "caste" entered English during the colonial era and remains essential vocabulary for discussing social hierarchy anywhere in the world.
One of the fixed hereditary social classes in traditional Hindu society, or any analogous rigid social class elsewhere.
"Marriage between members of different castes was once strongly discouraged."
When discussing Hindu society, be precise: "varna" refers to the four broad classical categories, while "jati" refers to the thousands of actual birth-groups often translated as "caste."
A distinct functional group within a colony of social insects, such as workers, soldiers, or reproductive females.
"In honeybee colonies, the worker caste consists entirely of sterile females."
Regular plural; used when speaking of multiple castes within or across societies.
"Indian society traditionally comprised thousands of distinct castes."
The English word "caste" comes from Portuguese "casta" — meaning "pure" — which colonizers ironically applied to a system they then used to sort people into ranks of purity.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of caste
"Caste" derives from the Portuguese casta, meaning "lineage," "breed," or "race," ultimately from Latin castus, meaning "pure" or "chaste." Portuguese traders in 16th-century India applied the term to the hereditary divisions of Hindu society they observed, and English adopted the word in the early 17th century. It shares this Latin root with "chaste" and "cast," reflecting an original sense of purity and separation.
Related word forms
How caste is actually used
Formal to neutral register. When referring to Hindu society specifically, capitalized terms like Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya, and Shudra denote particular castes; "Dalit" (formerly "untouchable") is the respectful modern term for those historically outside the varna framework. In sociological writing, "caste" implies rigidity and hereditary membership, contrasting with more fluid notions of "class." The word carries strong connotations of inequality and inherited status, so it is often used critically. Outside South Asian contexts, it appears mostly in academic or journalistic analogies (e.g., "America's caste system") and in entomology.
Easily confused with caste
"Cast" is the verb meaning to throw, plus related nouns (a cast of actors, plaster cast), while "caste" refers only to hereditary social classes.