Page:The history of caste in India.pdf/32



The word "caste."— This is of Spanish and Portuguese origin. Casta means lineage or race. It is derived from the Latin word Castus, which means pure. The Spaniards were the first to use it, but its Indian application is from the Portuguese, who had so applied it in the middle of the fifteenth century. The current spelling of the word is after the French word "Caste," which appears in 1740 in the "academies," and is hardly found before 1800. Before that time it was spelt as "cast." In the sense of race or breed of man it was used as early as 1555 A. D. The Spanish word "Casta" was applied to the mixed breed between Europeans, Indians (American) and negroes. But "caste" was not used in its Indian sense till the seventeenth century. The Indian use is the leading one now, and it has influenced all other uses. As the Indian idea of caste was but vaguely understood, this word was loosely applied to the hereditary classes of Europe resembling the castes of