See also: castellán

English

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Etymology

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From Middle English castelain, from Old French castelain (compare modern châtelain), from Latin castellanus (pertaining to a castle, an occupant of a castle, or a governor of a castle), from castellum castle, citadel, diminutive of castrum fortified place. See castle. Doublet of Castilian, castellano, castellanus, and chatelain and compare chatelaine.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈkæstələn/, /ˈkæstɪlən/

Noun

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castellan (plural castellans)

  1. (obsolete) A feudal lord with a fortified manor.
  2. (chiefly historical) The governor or caretaker entrusted to oversee a castle or keep for its lord.
    • 1851, Luther Calvin Saxton, Fall of Poland, volume 2, Charles Scribner, page 442:
      The inferior secular senators are ninety-two, containing the ten crown-officers, and eighty-two castellans. The latter are again divided into thirty-three great castellans, and forty-nine little castellans.
    • 2003, Benno Teschke, The Myth of 1648: Class, Geopolitics, and the Making of Modern International Relations, Verso, page 86:
      Castellans, often exercising control over a few villages and half a dozen small lordships, transformed their banal lordships into quasi-sovereign mini-states, independent of royal or comital sanction or control.
    • 2015, Christine Shaw, Barons and Castellans: The Military Nobility of Renaissance Italy, Koninklijke Brill, page 47:
      The wave of attacks on the castellans in 1511 followed faction-fighting in Udine, in which castellans and their families were massacred by supporters of the Savorgnan.

Synonyms

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Hypernyms

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Derived terms

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Translations

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Romansch

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From Latin castellānus.

Noun

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castellan m (plural castellans)

  1. (Sursilvan, Surmiran) steward, governor, overseer, sheriff, bailiff, administrator

Usage notes

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In a feudal, mediaeval context, this term refers to a local representative of the ruler, who ruled from a fortified castle on his ruler's behalf.