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half-caste

[ haf-kast, hahf-kahst ]

noun

  1. a contemptuous term used to refer to a person of mixed racial or ethnic descent.
  2. a contemptuous term used to refer to a person of mixed European and Hindu or European and Muslim parentage.
  3. a contemptuous term used to refer to a person descended from parents of two different social strata.


adjective

  1. of or relating to a half-caste.

half-caste

noun

  1. a person having parents of different races, esp the offspring of a European and an Indian
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


adjective

  1. of, relating to, or designating such a person
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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Word History and Origins

Origin of half-caste1

First recorded in 1785–95
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Example Sentences

You hear more people using the words "mixed-race" than "half-caste" here.

Until a few years ago the quarter known as the, Parian was the flourishing centre of the half-caste traders.

Several American officers were present on the occasion, accompanied by a Spanish half-caste who acted as their interpreter.

Langalibalele is not a true Kafir at all: he is a Fingor, a half-caste tribe contemptuously christened by the Kafirs "dogs."

I knew an instance of a half-caste Indian who from a small veruga below the ankle lost two pounds of blood.

The half-caste knew the Indians too well not to understand the ironical meaning of the words pronounced by the Guaycurus chief.

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