castellum

American  

[ka-stel-uhm] / kæˈstɛl əm /

noun

Archaeology.

• castelli
  plural

1. a small isolated fortress, or one of a series of such fortresses, of the ancient Romans.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• castelli
  plural

Etymology

Origin of castellum

< Latin: fortified settlement, fortress < *casterlom < *castṛlom < *castrelom, equivalent to castr ( a ) (neuter plural) fortified camp + *-elom diminutive suffix; see -ule, -elle

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

castellum

Head first to 2,000-year-old Dom Square, where the Romans built the castellum Traiectum, a fort that became the city’s foundation.

From Washington Post ● Jan. 29, 2020

In the twenty years since—this was a project with many political moments, many waves—a western section has become an archeological museum, housed in a wooden reconstruction of a Roman castellum.

From The New Yorker ● May 16, 2016

One of them, the highest one, which is now protected by a bordj, must have been defended in old days by a castellum.

From Saint Augustin by Vincent O'Sullivan

Under Drusus a castellum was erected here, which was destroyed by the Franks and the Alemanni.

From The Cathedrals and Churches of the Rhine by M. F. (Milburg Francisco) Mansfield

The Romans seldom or hardly ever chose a Celtic site for a new building, but, to quote Guest again, "generally built their castellum two or three miles from the British oppidum."

From Memorials of Old London Volume I by P. H. (Peter Hampson) Ditchfield