Etymologically
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château

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ʃa.to/[1]
  • IPA: /ʃɑ.to/[1]

Forms

château m (plural châteaux)[1] Old French chastel, with the nominative and plural chastaus (1174), from which château was formed.[2][3][4] The Académie wrote chasteau in 1694 and 1718, château from 1740.[4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French chastel, inherited from Latin castellum (“redoubt; water tower; in Medieval Latin, citadel, fortified town”),[4][2][5][1] a diminutive of castrum (“fortified place, camp”).[4][2][6] Rey and the Petit Robert relate that noun to castrō (“to cut”) (see châtrer), with the idea of a place cut off.[2][6] Old Occitan castel “fortified village” is found at the end of the 10th century.[4][2]

The Latin word passed into many languages: Italian castello, Spanish castillo, Portuguese castelo, Romanian castel, German Kastell and English castle.[2][6][1] English chateau was borrowed from French about 1739.[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Chanson de Roland (about 1100) has the plural chastels for fortified places, citadels: prent i chastels e alquantes citez.[4][3]

Semantic evolution

In the Middle Ages the building was any fortress; the phrase château fort dates only from the medieval fashion of the 19th century (Académie, 1835).[2][4] Partenopeus de Blois (before 1188) already uses it for a large and fine dwelling, and with the Renaissance that idea prevailed, giving a royal residence (Nicot, 1606) and so “the Court” (Stendhal, 1836), and a lord's residence (1690).[4][2]

Faire des châteaux en Espagne “to build castles in the air” is in Guillaume de Lorris (about 1236); Bloch and Wartburg link it to the epics, in which knights were given castles in Spain they first had to conquer.[4][8] Château de cartes is in Scarron (1651), and château d'eau “water tower” in the Dictionnaire de Trévoux (1704).[4] Early technical senses are a ship's castle (1165–70) and a castle in heraldry (about 1275).[4]

Timeline

  • Late 10th century – Old Occitan castel.[4]
  • c. 1100 – Chastels, Chanson de Roland.[4]
  • 1165–70 – A ship's castle, Benoît de Sainte-Maure.[4]
  • Before 1188 – “Fine residence”, Partenopeus de Blois.[4]
  • c. 1236 – Faire chastiaus en Espaigne, Guillaume de Lorris.[4]
  • 1606 – A royal residence, Nicot.[4]
  • 1651 – Châteaux de cartes, Scarron.[4]
  • 1704 – Château d'eau.[4]
  • 1835 – Château fort in the Académie.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A castle, a fortified feudal dwelling, château fort.[6][9]
  2. A royal or lordly residence; a large country house, a manor: les châteaux de la Loire, la vie de château, a life of idle luxury.[6][9]
  3. A wine-growing estate, especially in Bordeaux.[1]
  4. Château d'eau: a water tower.[4][9]
  5. Château de cartes: a house of cards, châteaux en Espagne, castles in the air.[4][2]
  6. (nautical) The castle of a ship, (heraldry) a castle.[4]

Word family

  • châtelet

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  3. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  5. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  6. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  7. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  8. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  9. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse