Target Exam

CUET

Subject

Sociology

Chapter

Indian Society: Continuity and Change

Question:

Which of the following foreign language words is the origin of the English word caste?

Options:

Casta

Castus

Kasta

Kaste 

Correct Answer:

Casta

Explanation:

The correct answer is Option 1: Casta 

The English word caste is derived from the Portuguese word casta, which means pure breed or lineage. Portuguese travelers and administrators used this term to describe the social divisions they observed in India, and it later entered the English language as caste.

NCERT: "As is well-known, the English word ‘caste’ is actually a borrowing from the Portuguese casta, meaning pure breed. The word refers to a broad institutional arrangement that in Indian languages (beginning with the ancient Sanskrit) is referred to by two distinct terms, varna and jati. Varna, literally ‘colour’, is the name given to a four-fold division of society into brahmana, kshatriya, vaishya and shudra, though this excludes a significant section of the population composed of the ‘outcastes’, foreigners, slaves, conquered peoples and others, sometimes refered to as the panchamas or fifth category. Jati is a generic term referring to species or kinds of anything, ranging from inanimate objects to plants, animals and human beings. Jati is the word most commonly used to refer to the institution of caste in Indian languages, though it is interesting to note that, increasingly, Indian language speakers are beginning to use the English word ‘caste’. ".