castor English · revision 1201

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈkɑːs.tə/ ''(UK)''; /ˈkæs.tɚ/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It comes from Middle English,^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate) [[der|fro|castor]]^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) and [[der|la|castor|t=beaver]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) [[der|grc|κάστωρ|tr=kástōr|t=beaver]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) which was identified with ''Kástōr'', the name of one of the divine twins.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) Castor was worshipped by women in ancient Greece as a healer, and the beaver's secretion was used medicinally,^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) but Etymonline notes that the animal did not live in classical Greece, so the word was probably borrowed from another language.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The beaver (before 1398).^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ From 1601 the word meant the strong-smelling substance from the beaver's glands, also called ''castoreum'',^(OED 1989) used in medicine and perfume.^(AHD)^(RHWU) A hat of beaver fur was a ''castor'' from 1640,^(OED 1989) and the name was then given to a heavy woollen cloth.^(OED 1989)^(AHD)^(RHWU) ''Castor oil'' (1746), from a plant, perhaps took its name from a likeness in use to castoreum.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) The spelling ''castor'' is also used for the furniture wheel and sprinkler properly called a [[caster]].^(AHD)^(OED 1989)^(RHWU)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 1398 – the beaver.^(Barnhart 1995)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1601 – castoreum.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1640 – a beaver hat.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1746 – ''castor oil''.^(Barnhart 1995)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # An oily, strong-smelling substance from glands in the groin of the [[beaver]], used as a fixative in [[perfume]]; [[castoreum]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A hat of beaver fur or an imitation of it.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A heavy woollen cloth used for overcoats.^(AHD)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(archaic)'' A beaver.^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(OED 1989)

+ # A variant spelling of [[caster]], a small wheel or a sprinkling container.^(AHD)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ===Proper noun===

+ # In Greek [[myth|alt=mythology]], one of the twin [[Dioscuri]], brother of Pollux.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A double [[star]] in the constellation [[Gemini]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[castor sugar]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[castoreum]]

+ * [[castor oil]]

+ * [[caster]]

+ * [[beaver]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}