castro

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈkas.troː]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈkas.tro]^[1]

Forms

castrō (present infinitive castrāre, perfect active castrāvī, supine castrātum); first conjugation^[1]

Etymology

Most scholars derive it from a noun Proto-Italic *kastro- (“cutting tool”), Proto-Indo-European *ḱs-tro- (“knife”), from the root Proto-Indo-European *ḱes- (“to cut”).^[2][3] Cognate with Sanskrit शस्त्र (śástra, “knife”), Sanskrit शसति (śásati, “cuts”), Ancient Greek κεάζω (keázō, “to split”), Albanian thadër (“double axe”) and Old Church Slavonic коса (kosa, “scythe”).^[2][4] The TLL also compares careō “to lack” and castus “chaste”.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus, whose character threatens to castrate the slaves at home.^[2][4] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^[6]

Semantic evolution

It meant to castrate or emasculate, of men and male animals, and also to spay female animals, as Pliny the Elder's sows and camels.^[4] Cicero quotes the saying that the republic had been castrāta, unmanned, by the death of Africanus.^[4] In farming it meant to thin out or prune plants, as Cato's old vines, to remove the honey from hives, as in Columella, and to dock a tail or reduce something.^[4]

In Medieval Latin castrō or castrō, -ōnis was a gelded ram, a wether.^[7] English castrate was formed in the 1610s.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus threatens to castrate slaves.^[4][6]
• 234–149 BC – Cato uses it of pruning vines.^[4][6]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero quotes the republic “unmanned” by Africanus' death.^[4][6]
• 1610s – English castrate is recorded.^[3]

Meanings

Verb

1. To castrate, emasculate; to spay.^[4]
2. (figurative) To unman, weaken.^[4]
3. To thin out, prune (plants).^[4]
4. To remove the honey from (hives).^[4]
5. To dock (a tail); to reduce.^[4]

Word family

• castrātiō
• castrator
• castratorius
• castratura
• excastrō
• castrātus
• prōcestria

Related words

• castrum
• English castrate

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
6. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill