chaste

See also: chastè

English

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• enPR: chāst, IPA^(key): /t͡ʃeɪst/
• (rarely) IPA^(key): /t͡ʃæst/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Homophone: chased
• Rhymes: -eɪst
• Rhymes: -æst

Adjective

chaste (comparative chaster, superlative chastest)

1. Abstaining from immoral or unlawful sexual intercourse.
2. Virginal, innocent, having had no sexual experience.
   • c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, The Tragicall Historie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke: […] (Second Quarto), London: […] I[ames] R[oberts] for N[icholas] L[ing] […], published 1604, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iii]:

     Then way what loſſe your honor may ſuſtaine
     If with too credent eare you liſt his ſongs
     Or looſe your hart, or your chaſt treaſure open
     To his vnmaſtred importunity.

3. Austere, simple, undecorative.

   a chaste style in composition or art

4. Decent, modest, morally pure.

   a chaste mind;  chaste eyes

Usage notes

Married couples are often exhorted to have “chaste sex” – compare the Vatican encyclical Casti Connubii (Of Chaste Wedlock).

Hyponyms

• celibate
• incel

Derived terms

• chaste tree
• chastity

Translations

abstaining from sexual intercourse

• Belarusian: цнатлі́вы (cnatlívy)
• Bulgarian: целомъ́дрен (bg) (celomǎ́dren)
• Catalan: cast (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 貞／贞 (zh) (zhēn), 純潔／纯洁 (zh) (chúnjié), 貞節／贞节 (zh) (zhēnjié)

• Czech: cudný (cs)
• Danish: kysk (da)
• Dutch: kuis (nl)
• Esperanto: ĉasta
• Finnish: siveä (fi)
• French: chaste (fr) m or f
• German: keusch (de)
• Greek: αγνός (el) (agnós)

  Ancient: ἁγνός (hagnós)

• Hungarian: szűzies (hu)
• Italian: pudico (it) m, pudica (it) f
• Japanese: 貞淑な (ていしゅくな, teishuku na), 純潔な (ja) (じゅんけつな, junketsu na), 貞節な (ja) (ていせつな, teisetsu na)
• Latin: pudīcus
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: kysk

  Nynorsk: kysk

• Occitan: cast (oc)
• Polish: cnotliwy (pl)
• Portuguese: casto (pt) m, casta (pt) f
• Romanian: cast (ro)
• Russian: целому́дренный (ru) (celomúdrennyj)
• Serbo-Croatian: čedan (sh) m
• Spanish: casto (es)
• Swedish: kysk (sv)
• Turkish: iffetli (tr), namuslu (tr)
• Ukrainian: цнотли́вий (uk) (cnotlývyj)

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. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Korean: 정숙한 (jeongsukhan)

See also

• pure

Anagrams

• 'stache, 'taches, Scheat, achest, chates, cheats, he-cats, sachet, scathe, she-cat, stache, taches, thecas

French

Etymology

Inherited from Old French chaste, caste, a semi-learned term derived from Latin castus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʃast/

• Audio:

  (file)

Adjective

chaste (plural chastes)

1. chaste; celibate

Related terms

• chasteté

Further reading

• “chaste”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Old French

Alternative forms

• caste

Etymology

Semi-learned term derived from Latin castus.

Adjective

chaste m (oblique and nominative feminine singular chaste)

1. chaste; celibate

Related terms

• chasteté