castle

Meaning

Noun

1. A large residential building or compound that is fortified and contains many defences; in previous ages often inhabited by a nobleman or king. Also, a house or mansion with some of the architectural features of medieval castles.
2. An instance of castling.
3. (informal) A rook; a chess piece shaped like a castle tower.
4. A defense structure in shogi formed by defensive pieces surrounding the king.
5. (obsolete) A close helmet.
6. (dated) Any strong, imposing, and stately palace or mansion.
7. (dated) A small tower, as on a ship, or an elephant's back.
8. (colloquial) The wicket.

Verb

1. (transitive) To house or keep in a castle.
2. (figuratively, transitive) To protect or separate in a similar way.
3. (obsolete) To make into a castle: to build in the form of a castle or add (real or imitation) battlements to an existing building.
4. (intransitive, usually) To move the king 2 squares right or left and, in the same turn, the nearest rook to the far side of the king. The move now has special rules: the king cannot be in, go through, or end in check; the squares between the king and rook must be vacant; and neither piece may have been moved before castling.
5. (intransitive, usually) To create a similar defensive position in Japanese chess through several moves.
6. To bowl a batsman with a full-length ball or yorker such that the stumps are knocked over.

Synonyms

rook

palace

fortress

fort

citadel

stronghold

mansion

chateau

castling

tower

city

🏙️

wall

fortification

room

sex

👉👌

slammer

spire

steeple

stone wall

surname

acropolis

governor’s house

castle walls

alcazar

chastel

chess piece

clink

enclosure

family name

fastness

gallery

gender

hoosegow

keep

manse

nick

pen

🖊️

Translations

château

🏰

castillo

🏰

castello

🏰

Burg

🏰

castelo

🏰

Schloß

kasteel

🏰

burcht

slot

🔒

castell

🏰

Turm

Schloss

🔒

tour

torre

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈkɑːsəl/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: castle

Inherited from Old English: castel

Cognate with Scots: castel

Cognate with Western Frisian: kastiel

Cognate with Dutch: kasteel

Cognate with German: Kastell

Cognate with Danish: kastel

Cognate with Swedish: kastell

Cognate with Icelandic: kastali

Cognate with Welsh: castell

Cognate with Latin: casa

Cognate with Gothic: 𐌷𐌴𐌸𐌾𐍉

Cognate with Old English: heaþor

In summary

From Middle English castle, castel, from late Old English castel, castell (“a town, village”), borrowed from Late Latin castellum (“small camp, fort”), diminutive of Latin castrum (“camp, fort, citadel, stronghold”). Doublet of cashel, castell, castellum, and château.
Parallel borrowings (from Late Latin or Old French) are Scots castel, castell (“castle”), West Frisian kastiel (“castle”), Dutch kasteel (“castle”), German Kastell (“castle”), Danish kastel (“citadel”), Swedish kastell (“citadel”), Icelandic kastali (“castle”), Welsh castell.
The late Old English word was borrowed from biblical Latin castellum which has been translated as town or village. With the sense of castle, from Anglo-Norman/Old Northern French castel (“castle”), itself from Late Latin castellum (“small camp, fort”) (compare modern French château from Old French chastel). If Latin castrum (“camp, fort, citadel, stronghold”) is from Proto-Indo-European *kat- (“hut, shed”), Latin casa (“cottage, hut”) is related. Possibly related also to Gothic 𐌷𐌴𐌸𐌾𐍉 (hēþjō, “chamber”), Old English heaþor (“restraint, confinement, enclosure, prison”). See also casino, cassock.

Sentences

Eight towers made of brick surrounded the castle .

A castle built from sand fails to endure .

After nearly three years since the beginning of the rebellion , Miki castle finally surrendered .

Yet this castle has not been faring very well .

Located high above the village of Septfontaines, the medieval castle is now privately owned .

The castle also protected Kyiv from the nomads of the Great Steppe .