castle

pronunciation

How to pronounce castle in British English: UK [ˈkɑːsl] word uk audio image

How to pronounce castle in American English: US [ˈkæsl] word us audio image

Noun:

a large and stately mansion
a large building formerly occupied by a ruler and fortified against attack
(chess) the piece that can move any number of unoccupied squares in a direction parallel to the sides of the chessboard
interchanging the positions of the king and a rook
Verb:

move the king two squares toward a rook and in the same move the rook to the square next past the king

Word Origin

castle: castle: [11] Castle was one of the first words borrowed by the English from their Norman conquerors: it is mentioned in the Anglo-Saxon chronicle only nine years after the battle of Hastings. It comes via Anglo-Norman castel from Latin castellum, a diminutive form of castrum ‘fort’ (which was acquired by Old English as ceaster, and now appears in English place-names as -caster or -chester). The Old French version of castel, chastel, produced modern French château, and also its derivative châtelaine, borrowed into English in the 19th century.=> château

castle (n.): late Old English castel "village" (this sense from a biblical usage in Vulgar Latin); later "large fortified building, stronghold," in this sense from Old North French castel (Old French chastel, 12c.; Modern French château), from Latin castellum "a castle, fort, citadel, stronghold; fortified village," diminutive of castrum "fort," from Proto-Italic *kastro- "part, share;" cognate with Old Irish cather, Welsh caer "town" (and perhaps related to castrare via notion of "cut off;" see caste). In early bibles, castle was used to translate Greek kome "village." This word also had come to Old English as ceaster and formed the -caster and -chester in place names. Spanish alcazar "castle" is from Arabic al-qasr, from Latin castrum. Castles in Spain translates 14c. French chastel en Espaigne (the imaginary castles sometimes stood in Brie, Asia, or Albania) and probably reflects the hopes of landless knights to establish themselves abroad. The statement that an (English) man's home is his castle is from 16c.

castle (v.): move in chess, recorded under this name from 1650s, from castle (n.), as an old alternative name for the rook, one of the pieces moved. Related: Castled; castling.