castellan
/ˈkæstələn/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.04 in modern English
11
Scrabble Score
9
Letters
2
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
Example Sentences
- "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."
- "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."
- "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."
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. By surface analysis, Old French castel + -an and castle + -an. Doublet of Castilian, castellano, castellanus, and chatelain /chatelaine.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: castelain, castellanus
- Suffix: castle