château

or cha·teau

[ sha-toh; French shah-toh ]

/ ʃæˈtoʊ; French ʃɑˈtoʊ /

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See synonyms for: château / châteaus / châteaux on Thesaurus.com

noun, plural châ·teaux

[sha-tohz; French shah-toh], /ʃæˈtoʊz; French ʃɑˈtoʊ/, châ·teaus.

(in France) a castle or fortress.

a stately residence imitating a distinctively French castle.

a country estate, especially a fine one, in France or elsewhere on the Continent.

(often initial capital letter) a winegrower's estate, especially in the Bordeaux region of France: often used as part of the name of a wine.

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Origin of château

1730–40; <French ≪ Latin castellumcastellum

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use château in a sentence

Nevers is a revelation for us both, a wonderful town nestled on the Loire and bursting with cathedrals, chateaux and history.
Discovering The Charms Of La France Profonde|Emma Woolf|June 9, 2014|DAILY BEAST
They make up a two-book set with recipes from all 85 Relais Chateaux chefs in North America.
Fresh Picks|Daniel Boulud|November 17, 2010|DAILY BEAST
Their Chateau en Espagne seemed invisible, as such chateaux usually are; and where it might be found, who was there to tell?
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 60, No. 372, October 1846|Various
I passed more chateaux in ruins, and others shut up and forsaken.
Travels through the South of France and the Interior of Provinces of Provence and Languedoc in the Years 1807 and 1808|Lt-Col. Pinkney

For he has often drawn up leases of chateaux with parks and out-houses, for three thousand a year.
The Petty Troubles of Married Life, Complete|Honore de Balzac
Visits to castles in the air,—Chateaux en Espagne, etc.,—with remarks on that sort of architecture.
The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 18, No. 109, November, 1866|Various
Sometimes a man thinks in mining parlance that he has 'struck it rich,' and straightway begins building his Chateaux en Espagne.
Tom Gerrard|Louis Becke

British Dictionary definitions for château

chateau

chteau

/ (ˈʃætəʊ, French ʃɑto) /

noun plural -teaux (-təʊ, -təʊz, French -to) or -teaus

a country house, castle, or manor house, esp in France

(in Quebec) the residence of a seigneur or (formerly) a governor

(in the name of a wine) estate or vineyard

Word Origin for chateau

C18: from French, from Old French chastel, from Latin castellum fortress, castle

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012