caste
Hereditary social tier
Caste is a rigid social class determined by birth, most associated with the Hindu system in India, where hereditary groups are ranked hierarchically and traditionally dictate occupation, marriage, and social interaction.
The term extends to any society with similar stratification: America's racial caste system.
In biology, caste describes specialized groups within social insects—worker bees, soldier ants.
The caste system implies inherited inequality that individuals cannot escape through achievement or effort.
Family line of descent
- bloodlineAncestry through generations
- descentDownward slope or lineage
- genealogyStudy of family descent
- pedigreeRecord of descent
kinship · clan · tribe · dynasty · forebears · inheritance · legacy · patrimony
State beyond contact or criticism
- exclusionBeing barred from participation
- stigmaMark of dishonor
- prejudicePreformed unfavorable opinion
- oppressionUnjust exercise of power
segregation · pariah · ghettoization · inequality · reservation · quota · affirmative action · marginalization
Division into distinct levels
- classGrouping by shared traits
- rankPosition in hierarchy
- statusOne's relative position
- varnaHindu hereditary social order
echelon · tier · stratum · gradation · pyramid · ordering · levels · upper
Forced separation by group
- separationState of being apart
- partitionBarrier separating spaces
- demarcationFormal boundary setting
- riftCrack or estrangement
schism · gulf · chasm · split · fracture · barrier · boundary · distinction
Ceremonial set of actions
- customHabitual group practice
- ceremonyFormal event marking occasions
- tabooCultural or social prohibition
- purityUncontaminated quality
impurity · orthodoxy · observance · practice · rites · belief · doctrine · dogma
Professional mutual-aid society
- tradeExchange of commodities
- craftSkilled manual art
- professionTrained occupational field
- vocationDedicated career path
artisan · hereditary · specialization · labor · work · calling · livelihood · metalworker
ancestry
Family line of descent
- bloodlineAncestry through generations
- descentDownward slope or lineage
- genealogyStudy of family descent
pedigree · kinship · clan · tribe · dynasty · forebears · inheritance · legacy · patrimony · progeny
untouchability
State beyond contact or criticism
- exclusionBeing barred from participation
- stigmaMark of dishonor
- prejudicePreformed unfavorable opinion
oppression · segregation · pariah · ghettoization · inequality · reservation · quota · affirmative action · marginalization · persecution
stratification
Division into distinct levels
varna · echelon · tier · stratum · gradation · pyramid · ordering · levels · upper · lower
segregation
Forced separation by group
- separationState of being apart
- partitionBarrier separating spaces
- demarcationFormal boundary setting
rift · schism · gulf · chasm · split · fracture · barrier · boundary · distinction · differentiation
ritual
Ceremonial set of actions
- customHabitual group practice
- ceremonyFormal event marking occasions
- tabooCultural or social prohibition
purity · impurity · orthodoxy · observance · practice · rites · belief · doctrine · dogma · sacrament
guild
Professional mutual-aid society
- tradeExchange of commodities
- craftSkilled manual art
- professionTrained occupational field
vocation · artisan · hereditary · specialization · labor · work · calling · livelihood · metalworker · weaver
- HinduismVishnu, Shiva, Krishna, Ganesh, Ganesha
- literary themesheroism, hero's journey, ennui, social realism, morals
- Sanskrit WordsSanskrit, Veda, asana, Vedas, Vedic
- Castevarna, Brahmins, untouchables, Dalit, untouchability
- Indian castesBrahmins, Dalit, Rajputs, Rajput, Meena
- segregationresidential segregation, redlining, ghetto, ghettos, steering
castemeritocracy
Advancement through demonstrated ability
social mobility · classlessness · open society · upward mobility · casteless
casteegalitarianism
Philosophy of universal equality
equality · classless society · social equality · universal brotherhood · communism
castecasteless
Without hereditary rank
individualism · universalism · cosmopolitanism · colorblindness · unclassified
- caste systemHereditary class division
- warrior casteHereditary military social stratum
- upper casteHighest social stratum
- lower casteSubordinate hereditary social group
- caste discriminationBias based on hereditary rank
- military casteHereditary soldier stratum
castigate, castigation, casteism, castes, outcaste, subcaste