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/
Audio (US) (file) - Homophone: chased
- Rhymes: -eɪst
Adjective
chaste (comparative chaster, superlative chastest)
- Abstaining from immoral or unlawful sexual intercourse.
- 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 760858814, [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.
-
- Austere, simple, undecorative.
- a chaste style in composition or art
- 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
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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
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See also
- pure
Anagrams
- 'stache, 'taches, Scheat, achest, chates, cheats, he-cats, sachet, scathe, she-cat, stache, taches, thecas
French
Etymology
From Old French chaste, caste, a semi-learned term derived from Latin castus.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ʃast/
Audio (file)
Adjective
chaste (plural chastes)
- 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)
- chaste; celibate
Related terms
- chasteté