# caste

> English word · Noun · IPA /kɑːst/ · frequency rank #12,934

## Definitions
1. Any of the hereditary social classes and subclasses of South Asian societies or similar found historically in other cultures.
2. A separate and fixed order or class of persons in society who chiefly associate with each other.
3. The division of society into castes; the caste system.
4. A class of polymorphous eusocial insects of a particular size and function within a colony.

## Etymology
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-.

## Easily confused with
- **cat** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/caste-vs-cat)
- **CST** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/caste-vs-cst)
- **CTE** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/caste-vs-cte)
- **CSE** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/caste-vs-cse)
- **cost** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/caste-vs-cost)
- **cute** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/caste-vs-cute)
- **cats** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/caste-vs-cats)
- **cave** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/caste-vs-cave)
- **cite** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/caste-vs-cite)
- **cyst** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/caste-vs-cyst)
- **cate** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/caste-vs-cate)
- **Cato** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/caste-vs-cato)
- **cote** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/caste-vs-cote)
- **Cath** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/caste-vs-cath)
- **cause** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/caste-vs-cause)
- **costs** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/caste-vs-costs)
- **coast** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/caste-vs-coast)
- **chase** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/caste-vs-chase)
- **costa** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/caste-vs-costa)
- **cease** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/caste-vs-cease)

## Common misspellings (7)
`acste`, `caset`, `casste`, `castte`, `catse`, `ccaste`, `csate`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/caste