castellan
See also: castellán
English
Etymology
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 castellano and chatelain (compare chatelaine).
Pronunciation
Noun
castellan (plural castellans)
- The governor or caretaker of a castle or keep.
- 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.
- 1851, Luther Calvin Saxton, Fall of Poland, Volume 2, Charles Scribner, page 442,
Related terms
Translations
governor or caretaker of a castle or keep
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Romansch
Alternative forms
- (Rumantsch Grischun) chastellan
- (Sutsilvan) castelàn
- (Puter) chastlaun
- (Vallader) chastlan
Etymology
From Latin castellānus.
Noun
castellan m (plural castellans)
Usage notes
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.
Categories:
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms derived from Old French
- English terms derived from Latin
- English doublets
- English 3-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- Romansch terms inherited from Latin
- Romansch terms derived from Latin
- Romansch lemmas
- Romansch nouns
- Romansch masculine nouns
- Sursilvan Romansch
- Surmiran Romansch