Etymologically
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castle

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /ˈkɑː.səl/, US /ˈkæs.əl/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English castel, inherited from Old English castel,[2][3][4] borrowed first from Latin castellum (“fortified village”) and again from Old Northern French castel “fortress”,[3][2][5] a diminutive of castrum “fort”, plural castra “camp”.[2][3][6] Etymonline relates castrum to Old Irish cathir and Welsh caer “town”, probably from Proto-Indo-European *kes- (“to cut”).[2] It is related to chateau, castellan and the -caster and -chester of place names.[3][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A village, rendering Latin castellum in the Vulgate: about 1000 in the OED and Barnhart, in early Gospels.[7][3][2]

Semantic evolution

A large building fortified against enemies, a stronghold, is from late Old English (before 1075 in the OED).[7][2] The verb, to decorate a dish with paper towers, is from the late 14th century, to fit a ship with towers from about 1400, and to fortify with castles from about 1500.[2] An Englishman's house is his castle is from 1567.[7][2] Castles in Spain, a fantasy, translates 14th-century French chastel en Espaigne,[2][6] and castles in the air is from the mid-16th century.[6] In chess, the rook was also called a castle, and the verb for the move of king and rook is from the 1650s.[2][4] In Ireland the Castle meant Dublin Castle, the seat of government, from 1735.[7]

Timeline

  • c. 1000 – a village (biblical).[7][3]
  • a. 1075 – a fortress.[7]
  • 1567 – a man's house is his castle.[7]
  • mid-16th century – castles in the air.[6]
  • 1650s – verb, in chess.[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A large strong building with thick walls and towers, built in the past to defend against attack.
  2. A large and grand house.
  3. (chess) The rook.

Verb

  1. (chess) To move the king two squares towards a rook and put the rook on the square the king has passed.

Word family

  • castlelike
  • castellan
  • castellated
  • castellum
  • chateau
  • castrate

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c d Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press