castellum

[ka-stel-uhm]

noun

Archaeology.

plural

castelli 

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of castellum¹

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

Example Sentences

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

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There are also the ruins of the Temple of Diana, as well as two Roman city gates and the Castellum that collected water carried in from Uzès across the Pont du Gard viaduct.

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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.

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The Romans built their lighthouse here, with another on the topmost point of the Western Heights, but the first Castle is not supposed to have been built before the time of Edward the Confessor, and the first reference to it is found in that oath which Harold swore to the Duke of Normandy, that he would yield up to him both the fortress and the well which was contained in “castellum Dofris.”

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According to Vitruvius, each castellum should have three pipes,—one for public fountains, one for baths and the third for private houses.

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