Castle

A large fortified building or group of buildings with thick walls, usually dominating the surrounding country. place of privacy, security, or refuge.

From Latin castellum, "a fortified settlement or garrison". Also "a refuge". From Latin castra, "a military camp".

The root KES- means "to cut". In Latin castrare is "to castrate"; castra are "separated places" or walled camps. Place names in -chester like Chester, Winchester, Dorchester, East- and Westchester, Chichester, Manchester, and -cester like Worcester and Leicester originally were Roman camps.

This is one of the earliest Latin words to come into English, even before there was an English language. Its influence dates from the Roman period in Britain, when the native peoples were Celtic.

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