chaste

English

Etymology

From Old French chaste (“morally pure”), from Latin castus (“pure”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: chāst, IPA: /tʃeɪst/, SAMPA: /tSeIst/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Homophone: chased
• Rhymes: -eɪst

Adjective

chaste (comparative chaster, superlative chastest)

1. abstaining from sexual intercourse, celibate
2. virginal, innocent, having had no sexual experience
3. simple, austere, undecorative
4. modest, decent, morally pure

Usage notes

• Married couples are often exhorted to have "chaste sex"--compare the Vatican encyclical Casti Connubii (Of Chaste Wedlock).

Derived terms

• chastity

See also

• pure

Translations

Abstaining from sexual intercourse

Bulgarian: целомъдрен (bg) Croatian: čedan (hr) m. Czech: cudný (cs) Dutch: kuis (nl) French: chaste (fr) m. and f. Greek: Ancient: ἁγνός (hagnos)

Romanian: cast (ro) Russian: целомудренный (ru) Spanish: casto (es) Turkish: iffetli (tr), namuslu (tr)

innocent — see innocent

celibate — see celibate

austere — see austere

modest — see modest

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

Italian: casto m., casta f.

Korean: 정숙한 Portuguese: casto m., casta f.

Anagrams

• cheats
• sachet
• scathe
• stache
• taches

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French

Adjective

chaste (epicene, plural chastes)

1. chaste; celibate

Related terms

• chasteté