English

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-Indo-European *ḱes- ‎(“to cut, cut off, separate”) (Watkins, 1969). An older etymology (1899) derived castrum from Latin casa, and proposed an ultimate etymon from a Sanskrit root (sic) *skad-, "to cover". See also castrō, careō.

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈkas.trum/, [ˈkas.trũ]

Noun

castrum n ‎(genitive castrī); second declension

1. castle, fort
2. (chiefly plural) camp, especially a military camp
   • 100 BCE – 44 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 […]

Inflection

Second declension.

Derived terms

• castellum
• castra

Descendants

References

• 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, 1883–1887)
• Félix Gaffiot (1934), “castrum”, in Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Paris: Hachette.
• Meissner, Carl; Auden, Henry William (1894) Latin Phrase-Book, 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 II, Bern, München: Francke Verlag, page 586