Etymograph

English

chastity

Chastity comes from Old French chasteté, from Latin castus ‘pure’, and ultimately from Proto-Italic *kastos.

  1. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kastos1reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcastus2‘pure’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcastitas3
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400chasteté3
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500chastite3
  6. Englishearliest quotation 2010chastity3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin castus
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin castitas
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English chastity
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2010, The Guardian, Celibacy: whose bright idea was that?: “In Catholic doctrine, the virtue of chastity is taken…”.

Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kastosWiktionary, Latin castusreconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcastusWiktionary, Latin castitas‘pure’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcastitasWiktionary, English chastity
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400chastetéWiktionary, English chastity
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500chastiteWiktionary, English chastity
  6. Englishearliest quotation 2010chastityWiktionary, English chastity. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2010, The Guardian, Celibacy: whose bright idea was that?: “In Catholic doctrine, the virtue of chastity is taken…”

Formed from chaste + -ity

Proto-Italic *kastos

Latin castus ‘pure’

Old French chaste ‘morally pure’

Middle English chaste

English chaste

Linked words

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

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

through Latin castus ‘pure’

caste, 6 more

Today it means

noun The quality of being chaste: the state of abstaining from any sexual activity considered immoral; avoidance of sexual sins.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “chastity”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin castus, Latin castitas. 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 / chastity

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