Caste System
/ˈkɑːst ˌsɪstəm/noun
A social structure in which people are assigned hereditary groups that traditionally determine status, occupation, marriage, and social interaction.
Did you know?The word caste entered European languages through Portuguese casta during early encounters with South Asian society, where Europeans connected hereditary social divisions with ideas of lineage and purity.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*kes-
“To cut or separate; a proposed deeper root sometimes associated with later Latin terms of purity and division.”
Classical Latin
Latin
castus
“Pure, morally clean, or ritually purified.”
13th–15th Century
Portuguese
casta
“Race, breed, lineage, or kind; literally associated with purity or unmixed descent.”
16th Century
Portuguese
casta
“A hereditary social group, especially in descriptions of social divisions in India.”
16th–17th Century
English
caste
“A hereditary social class or rank.”
Modern English
English
caste system
“An organized hierarchy of hereditary social groups, especially referring to systems historically associated with South Asia.”