Etymograph

English

chaste

Chaste comes from Old French chaste ‘morally pure’, and goes back to Proto-Italic *kastos.

  1. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kastos1reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcastus2‘pure’
  3. Old Frenchc. 842–1400chaste2‘morally pure’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500chaste2
  5. Englishearliest quotation c. 1599–1602chaste2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin castus
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English chaste
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1599–1602, William Shakespeare, The Tragicall Historie of Hamlet: “Then way what loſſe your honor may ſuſtaine If…”.

Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kastosWiktionary, Latin castusreconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcastusWiktionary, English chaste‘pure’
  3. Old Frenchc. 842–1400chasteWiktionary, English chaste‘morally pure’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500chasteWiktionary, English chaste
  5. Englishearliest quotation c. 1599–1602chasteWiktionary, English chaste. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1599–1602, William Shakespeare, The Tragicall Historie of Hamlet: “Then way what loſſe your honor may ſuſtaine If…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *ḱes- ‘to cut’

castle, caries, cassation, cashel, castello, castrate, castell, 23 more

through Latin castus ‘pure’

caste, 6 more

Today it means

adj Sexually pure, abstaining from immoral or unlawful sexual intercourse.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “chaste”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin castus. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Italic *kastos / chaste

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