castrum

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin castrum. Doublet of Chester.

Noun

castrum (plural castra)

1. (historical) Among the Ancient Romans, a building or plot of land used as a military defensive position.

Latin

Etymology

From Proto-Italic *kastrom, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱes- (“to cut, cut off, separate”) +‎ Proto-Indo-European *-trom (Latin -trum) (Watkins, 1969). An older etymology (1899) derived castrum from Latin casa, and proposed an ultimate etymon from a Sanskrit root (sic) *skad-, "to cover". If directly from Proto-Indo-European *ḱ(e)stróm, cognate with Sanskrit शस्त्र (śastrá, “cutting tool”). See also castrō, careō.

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈkas.trum/, [ˈkäs̠t̪rʊ̃ˑ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈkas.trum/, [ˈkäst̪rum]

Noun

castrum n (genitive castrī); second declension

1. castle, fort, fortress
2. (chiefly plural) several soldiers' tents situated together; hence, a military camp, an encampment
   • c. 52 BCE, Julius Caesar, Commentarii de Bello Gallico 5.9:

     Caesar exposito exercitu et loco castris idoneo capto […]

     Caesar, having disembarked his army and chosen a convenient place for the camp […]

Usage notes

Use in singular is rarer than that of castellum.

Declension

Second-declension noun (neuter).

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	castrum	castra
Genitive	castrī	castrōrum
Dative	castrō	castrīs
Accusative	castrum	castra
Ablative	castrō	castrīs
Vocative	castrum	castra

Derived terms

• castellum
• castra

Descendants

• Old Galician-Portuguese: castro, Castro
  • Galician: castro, Castro
  • Portuguese: castro, crasto, Castro, Crasto
• Old Spanish: castro
  • Spanish: castro, Castro
• Borrowings:
  • → Albanian: -kastër
  • → Aramaic: קַצְרָא‎ (qaṣrā) / ܩܰܨܪܳܐ‎ (qaṣrā)
    • → Arabic: قَصْر‎ (qaṣr)
      • Hijazi Arabic: قصر‎ (gaṣur)
      • → Old Catalan: alcacer
        • Catalan: alcàsser
      • → Old Galician-Portuguese: alcaçar, alcaçer
        • Galician: alcácer
        • Portuguese: alcácer
      • → Old Spanish: alcaçar, alcacer
        • Spanish: alcázar (see there for further descendants)
      • → Persian: قصر‎ (qasr)
        • Tajik: қаср (qasr)
        • → Ottoman Turkish: قصر‎
          • Turkish: kasır
        • → Uzbek: qasr
      • → Italian: cassero, cassaro
      • → Sicilian: càssaru
      • → Swahili: kasri
      • → Uyghur: قەسىر‎ (qesir)
  • → Berber [languages?]: aɣasru, ɣasru
  • → Byzantine Greek: κάστρον (kástron)
    • Greek: κάστρο n (kástro)
      • → Coptic: ⲕⲁⲥⲧⲣⲟⲩ (kastrou), → Coptic: ⲕⲁⲥⲧⲣⲟⲛ (kastron)
      • → Aromanian: castru
  • → English: castrum
  • → Hebrew: קְצָרָה‎ (qəṣārā)
  • → Old English: ceaster
    • Middle English: Chestre
      • English: -caster, -cester, -chester, Chester
  • → Romanian: castru

References

• De Vaan, Michiel (2008), “castrum”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 97–98
• “castrum”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “castrum”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• castrum in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• castrum in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette
• Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • veterans; experienced troops: qui magnum in castris usum habent
    
  • to disarm a person: armis (castris) exuere aliquem
    
  • to leave troops to guard the camp: praesidio castris milites relinquere
    
  • to mount guard in the camp: vigilias agere in castris (Verr. 4. 43)
    
  • to keep the troops in camp: copias castris continere
    
  • to remain inactive in camp: se (quietum) tenere castris
    
• “castrum”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898) Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• Pokorny, Julius (1959) Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch [Indo-European Etymological Dictionary] (in German), volume 2, Bern, München: Francke Verlag, page 586