LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
noun · neutersecond declension

castrum

castrum n (genitive castrī)
Classical[ˈkas.trũː]Ecclesiastical[ˈkas.trum]
№ 224 of the 1,000 commonest words

Meaning

  1. neutercastle, fort, fortress
  2. in pluralneuterseveral soldiers' tents situated together; hence, a military camp, an encampment
    Caesar exposito exercitu et loco castris idoneo capto […]Caesar, having disembarked his army and chosen a convenient place for the camp […]c. 52 BCE, Julius Caesar, Commentarii de bello Gallico 5.9

Declension

declension
formsingularplural
nominativecastrumcastra
genitivecastrīcastrōrum
dativecastrōcastrīs
accusativecastrumcastra
ablativecastrōcastrīs
vocativecastrumcastra

Phrases from Meissner's Latin Phrase-Book

castra movere
to begin the march, break up the camp.
castra munire
to make a fortified, entrenched camp.
castra ponere, locare
to encamp.
castra hiberna, aestiva
winter-quarters, summer-quarters.
copias castris continere
to keep the troops in camp.
castra praesidiis firmare
to strengthen the camp by outposts.
castra nudare (B. G. 7. 70)
to leave the camp undefended.
se (quietum) tenere castris
to remain inactive in camp.
8 more phrases
castra metari (B. C. 3. 13)
to mark out a camp.
castra munire vallo (aggere)
to fortify the camp with a rampart.
armis (castris) exuere aliquem
to disarm a person.
castra stativa (Sall. Iug. 44)
a permanent camp.
qui magnum in castris usum habent
veterans; experienced troops.
praesidio castris milites relinquere
to leave troops to guard the camp.
vigilias agere in castris (Verr. 4. 43)
to mount guard in the camp.
castra coniungere, iungere (B. C. 1. 63)
to make a camp in common.

castrum, i, n. kindred with casa, q. v..
I. In sing., any fortified place; a castle, fort, fortress (more rare than castellum): ei Grunium dederat in Phrygiā castrum, etc., Nep. Alcib. 9, 3; Liv. 32. 29, 4; Dig. 27, 1, 17 fin.—
B. Esp., nom. propr.
1. Castrum Altum or Album, in Hispania Tarraconensis, Liv. 24, 41, 3.—
2. Castrum Inui, or simply Castrum, an ancient city of the Rutuli, near Ardea, Verg. A. 6, 775; called Castrum, Ov. M. 15, 727; Sil. 8, 359. —
3. Castrum Novum, a city on the seacoast of Etruria, Liv. 36, 3, 6; Plin. 3, 5, 8, § 51.—
4. Another Castrum Novum, on the sea-coast of Picenum, now Giulia Nova, Plin. 3, 13, 18, § 110; also called absol. Castrum, Vell. 1, 14, 8.—
5. Castrum Truentinum, a maritime city of Picenum, on the river Truentus, Cic. Att. 8, 12, B, 1; also called Truentum, Plin. 3, 13, 18, § 110.—
6. Castrum Vergium, a fortress of the Bergistani in Hispania Tarraconensis, now Berga, Liv. 34, 21, 1.—Far more freq.,
II. In plur.: castra, ōrum, n. (castra, ae, f.: castra haec vestra est, Att. ap. Non. p. 200, 30; Trag. Rel. p. 238 Rib.).
A. Lit., several soldiers' tents situated together; hence, a military camp, an encampment; among the Romans a square (quadrata); later, after the manner of the Greeks, sometimes circular, or adjusted to its situation, Veg. Mil. 1, 23. It was surrounded by a trench (fossa) and a wall (vallum), and had four gates: Porta Praetoria, the front, chief gate, on the opp. side from the enemy, from which the legions marched; opp. to this, Porta Decumana (in later times Porta Quaestoria), the back gate; Porta Principalis Dextra, and Porta Principalis Sinistra, situated on the two sides of the camp, Liv. 40, 27, 4 sq.; cf. Dict. of Antiq.—
b. Phrases.
(a). With adj.: stativa, occupied for a long time, permanent, Cic. Verr. 2, 5, 12, § 29; Caes. B. C. 3, 30; 3, 37; Sall. J. 44, 4; Tac. A. 3, 21: aestiva, summer camp, id. ib. 1, 16; Suet. Claud. 1: hiberna, Liv. 29, 35, 13 (more freq. absol. aestiva and hiberna, q. v.): navalia, an encampment on the shore for protecting the fleet and the troops while landing; sometimes connected with the ships drawn to land, Caes. B. G. 5, 22 Herz.; cf. id. ib. 5, 11; Liv. 29, 35, 13; called also nautica, Nep. Alcib. 8, 5; id. Hann. 11, 6 (cf. id. ib. § 4; Liv. 44, 39): lunata, crescent-shaped, Auct. B. Afr. 80.—With numerals: una, Tac. A. 4, 2: bina, Cic. Phil. 12, 11, 27; Liv. 4, 27, 3: quina, Caes. B. C. 3, 9.—
(b). With verb: locum castris antecapere, Sall. J. 50, 1; cf.: capere locum castris, Liv. 4, 27, 3; 9, 17, 15; and montes castris capere, Tac. A. 12, 55: castra metari, Cael. ap. Non. p. 137, 18; Caes. B. C. 3, 13, 3; Hirt. B. G. 8, 15 al.: facere, Caes. B. G. 1, 48; Nep. Milt. 5, 2; Cic. Verr. 2, 5, 12, § 29 al.: ponere, Caes. B. G. 2, 5; 7, 35; Nep. Hann. 5 fin.: ponere et munire, Sall. J. 75, 7: munire, Caes. B. G. 1, 49; Liv. 44, 39, 1: communire, Caes. B. G. 5, 49; Liv. 23, 28, 3: castra castris conferre, id. 10, 32, 5; 23, 28, 9: castris se tenere, Caes. B. G. 1, 40, 8: castra movere, to break up, to decamp, id. ib. 1, 39 fin.; also syn. with to march forth from a camp, id. ib. 1, 15 Herz.; 1, 22; 2, 2; Sall. C. 57, 3; Nep. Dat. 8, 4; id. Eum. 12 fin. et saep.—Hence, also, promovere, Caes. B. G. 1, 48: movere retro, Liv. 2, 58, 3: removere, id. 9, 24, 4: proferre, Caes. B. C. 1, 81: castris castra inferre, Enn. Trag. 201 Vahl.—
c. Castra Praetoriana, Praetoria, Urbana or simply Castra, the barracks of the Prœtorians in the suburbs of Rome, Suet. Tib. 37; id. Claud. 21; Tac. A. 4, 2; Suet. Aug. 29; id. Claud. 36; Dig. 48, 5, 15. —
d. Castrorum filius, a surname of Caligula, who was brought up in the camp, Suet. Calig. 22; Aur. Vict. Caes. 3.—So, Castrorum mater, an appellation of Faustina, the wife of the emperor Marcus Aurelius, because she accompanied him in an expedition against the Quadi, Capitol. Marc. Aur. 26.—Hence both appell. in later inscriptions as titles of the Roman emperors and empresses.—
B. Esp. as nom. propr., like castrum.
1. Castra Corneliana or Cornelia, on the north coast of Africa, near Utica, so called because the elder Scipio Africanus first pitched his camp there, after his landing in Africa, in the second Punic war, Caes. B. C. 2, 24; 2, 25; 2, 37; Mel. 1, 7, 2; Plin. 5, 4, 3, § 24.—
2. Castra Caecilia, in Lusitania, Plin. 4, 22, 35, § 117.—
3. Castra Hannibalis, a seaport town in Bruttium, Plin. 3, 10, 15, § 95.—
4. Castra Pyrrhi, a place in Grecian Illyria, Liv. 32, 13, 2.—
5. Castra Vetera or Vetera, a place on the Lower Rhine, now Xanthen, Tac. H. 4, 18; 4, 21; 4, 35; id. A. 1, 45.—
6. Castra Alexandri, a district in Egypt, Curt. 4, 7, 2; Oros. 1, 2.—
C. Meton.
1. Since, in military expeditions, a camp was pitched each evening, in the histt. (esp. Livy) for a day's march: secundis castris ( = bidui itinere) pervenit ad Dium, Liv. 44, 7, 1; so Tac. H. 3, 15; cf.: alteris castris, Liv. 38, 13, 2; Curt. 3, 7.— So tertiis castris, Liv. 38, 13, 11; 38, 24, 1; Tac. H. 4, 71: quartis castris, Liv. 44, 46, 10: quintis castris, Caes. B. G. 7, 36; Liv. 28, 19, 4: septimis castris, id. 40, 22, 1: decimis castris, id. 27, 32 fin.; 28, 33, 1.—
2. Military service (hence, often opp. forum and toga), Nep. Epam. 5, 4; Vell. 2, 125, 4; Tib. 4, 1, 39: qui magnum in castris usum habebant, Caes. B. G. 1, 39.—
3. Of beehives: cerea, Verg. A. 12, 589: in apium castris, Pall. 1, 37, 4.—
4. Of a sheepfold, Col. 6, 23, 3.—
5. Of political parties, regarded as arrayed in hostility: si ad interdicti sententiam confugis... in meis castris praesidiisque versaris, Cic. Caecin. 29, 83.—
6. Of philosophical sects: Epicuri castra, Cic. Fam. 9, 20, 1: O castra praeclara (Epicuri)! id. ib. 7, 12, 1; Hor. C. 3, 16, 23; Sen. Ep. 2, 4.

Origins

From Proto-Italic *kastrom, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱes- (“to cut, cut off, separate”) + Proto-Indo-European *-trom (Latin -trum) (Watkins, 1969). Cognate with Sanskrit शस्त्र (śastrá, “cutting tool, sword”). See also castrō, careō.

Elsewhere
  • Italiancastro
  • ItalianCastro
  • Portuguesecastrofrom Old Galician-Portuguese castro
  • Portuguesecrastofrom Old Galician-Portuguese castro
  • PortugueseCastrofrom Old Galician-Portuguese castro
  • PortugueseCrastofrom Old Galician-Portuguese castro
  • Spanishcastrofrom Old Spanish castro
  • SpanishCastrofrom Old Spanish castro
  • Englishksarfrom Aramaic קַצְרָא
  • Frenchksarfrom Aramaic קַצְרָא
Berber
  • Nefusaɣasrú

Quick answers

What does castrum mean in Latin?
castrum, a noun, means “castle, fort, fortress; several soldiers' tents situated together; hence, a military camp, an encampment”.
What is the genitive of castrum?
The genitive singular is castrī. castrum is neuter, second declension.
How do you pronounce castrum?
In classical Latin, [ˈkas.trũː]; in ecclesiastical (church) Latin, [ˈkas.trum].