| / English Dictionary |
CASTE
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
In some social insects (such as ants) a physically distinct individual or group of individuals specialized to perform certain functions in the colony
Classified under:
Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects
Hypernyms ("caste" is a kind of...):
animal group (a group of animals)
Domain category:
bugology; entomology (the branch of zoology that studies insects)
Holonyms ("caste" is a part of...):
colony (a group of organisms of the same type living or growing together)
Sense 2
Meaning:
A social class separated from others by distinctions of hereditary rank or profession or wealth
Classified under:
Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects
Hypernyms ("caste" is a kind of...):
class; social class; socio-economic class; stratum (people having the same social, economic, or educational status)
Sense 3
Meaning:
(Hinduism) a hereditary social class among Hindus; stratified according to ritual purity
Classified under:
Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects
Hypernyms ("caste" is a kind of...):
class; social class; socio-economic class; stratum (people having the same social, economic, or educational status)
Domain category:
Hindooism; Hinduism (a body of religious and philosophical beliefs and cultural practices native to India and based on a caste system; it is characterized by a belief in reincarnation, by a belief in a supreme being of many forms and natures, by the view that opposing theories are aspects of one eternal truth, and by a desire for liberation from earthly evils)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "caste"):
jati ((Hinduism) a Hindu caste or distinctive social group of which there are thousands throughout India; a special characteristic is often the exclusive occupation of its male members (such as barber or potter))
Sense 4
Meaning:
Social status or position conferred by a system based on class
Example:
lose caste by doing work beneath one's station
Classified under:
Nouns denoting stable states of affairs
Hypernyms ("caste" is a kind of...):
position; status (the relative position or standing of things or especially persons in a society)
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