castus

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈkas.tʊs]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈkas.t̪us]

Etymology 1

Verbal adjective from the same root of careō (“I lack”), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *ḱes- (“to cut”). Compare the meanings of pūrus/putus and derived putō. Related to Etruscan 𐌂𐌀𐌔𐌕𐌂𐌄 (castce).

Adjective

castus (feminine casta, neuter castum, comparative castior, superlative castissimus, adverb castē); first/second-declension adjective

2. morally pure, guiltless, spotless

   Synonyms: innoxius, īnsōns, innocēns

   Antonyms: reus, obnoxius, noxius, cōnscius

3. especially in regard to sexual morality: pure, chaste, unpolluted, virtuous, continent
   • 8 CE, Ovid, Fasti 4.307–308:

     casta quidem, sed nōn et crēdita: rūmor inīquus
     laeserat, et falsī crīminis ācta rea est.

     Chaste, [she was] indeed, and yet had not been believed [to be so]:
     unjust slander had wronged her, and she was charged on a false accusation.
     (See Claudia Quinta.)

4. pure, free from barbarisms
5. in a religious context: religious, pious, holy, sacred

Declension

First/second-declension adjective.

	singular				plural
	masculine	feminine	neuter		masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	castus	casta	castum		castī	castae	casta
genitive	castī	castae	castī		castōrum	castārum	castōrum
dative	castō	castae	castō		castīs
accusative	castum	castam	castum		castōs	castās	casta
ablative	castō	castā	castō		castīs
vocative	caste	casta	castum		castī	castae	casta

Derived terms

• castificō
• castīgō
• castitās
• Castī connūbiī (of chaste wedlock)
• incestus

Descendants

• Asturian: castu
• Catalan: cast
• → English: chaste, caste
• French: chaste, caste
• Friulian: cast
• Galician: casto
• Italian: casto
• Occitan: cast
• Portuguese: casto, casta
• Romanian: cast
• Spanish: casto, casta

Etymology 2

From careō +‎ -tus, thus from the same root as Etymology 1.

Noun

castus m (genitive castūs); fourth declension

2. (pre-Classical, post-Classical) an abstinence from sensual enjoyments on religious grounds

   Synonym: castimōnia

Declension

Fourth-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	castus	castūs
genitive	castūs	castuum
dative	castuī	castibus
accusative	castum	castūs
ablative	castū	castibus
vocative	castus	castūs

Derived terms

• incestus

Further reading

• “castus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “castus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• "castus", in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• castus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.