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 Castilian, castellano, castellanus, castellan, and chatelain and compare chatelaine.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkæstələn/, /ˈkæstɪlən/

Noun

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

• chatelain

Hypernyms

• (lord): lord, feudal lord, lord of the manor

Related terms

• castellany
• castellate

Translations

governor or caretaker of a castle or keep

• Albanian: kështjellar (sq)
• Bulgarian: управител на замък m (upravitel na zamǎk), кастелан m (kastelan)
• Finnish: linnanherra
• French: châtelain (fr)
• Galician: casteleiro (gl) m
• Greek: καστελάνος (el) m (kastelános), πυργοδεσπότης (el) m (pyrgodespótis)
• Italian: castellano m
• Polish: kasztelan (pl) m
• Spanish: castellano (es) m

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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)

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

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.