Etymologically
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castrum

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈkas.trũː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈkas.trum][1]

Forms

castrum n (genitive castrī); second declension[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *kastro- (“part, share”), inherited from Proto-Indo-European *ḱs-tro-, probably from Proto-Indo-European *ḱes- (“to cut”).[2][1] Cognate with Oscan castrous (“of the estate (?)”) and Umbrian kastruvuf, perhaps “field, property”.[2][3] Walde and Hofmann and Ernout and Meillet explain it as a “cut-off part”, a fenced area or property, whence “camp”; the root *ḱes- also gave a noun for “knife” from which castrō “to castrate” was formed.[2][1] The TLL calls it of doubtful origin, and Lewis and Short connected it with casa “hut”.[4][5] Isidore of Seville explained it as a town on a high place, as if a high casa.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus, who already has the plural castra.[2] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.[7]

Semantic evolution

In the singular it meant a fortified post or settlement, a fort, mostly in place names such as Castrum Inuī in Virgil and Castrum Novum in Livy.[3][5] Its plural castra was the usual word for a military camp, and its diminutive castellum meant a fort or fortified village.[2][5]

In Medieval Latin it meant a walled town that was not a city, a castle, a rampart round an abbey, and a bishop's see.[8] In Poland it was a stronghold and the seat of a duke.[9] Through Old English ceaster it is the source of English place names such as English Chester, and through Arabic of Spanish alcázar.[10][1] English castle comes from the diminutive castellum.[10]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it.[2][7]
  • c. 100–24 BC – Nepos uses it of a fortress in Phrygia.[5][7]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil names Castrum Inuī.[5][7]
  • 735 – Old English Legacæstir, Chester, is recorded.[10]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A fortified post or settlement, fort.[3][5]
  2. (Medieval Latin) A walled town, castle.[8]

Word family

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f 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 Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  5. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911).
  7. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  8. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  9. ^ Lexicon mediae et infimae Latinitatis Polonorum (1953–), Kraków: Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN; electronic ed. elexicon.scriptores.pl
  10. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com