castellan
/ˈkæstələn/
"castellan" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“castellan” is uncommon English (frequency #90,263 among 43,570 “C” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #90,263
- frequency rank, English
- 43,570
- “C” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A feudal lord with a fortified manor.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | castellan |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈkæstələn/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #90,263 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “castellan” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
castellan is uncommon English at frequency #90,263 among 43,570 “C” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈkæstələn/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
No generated misspelling entries exist for castellan in our index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English castelain, from Old French castelain (compare modern châtelain), from Latin castellanus (“pertaining to a castle, an occupant of a castle, or a governor of a castle”), from castellum castle, citadel, diminutive of castrum fortified place… The correct English form is castellan, spelled C-A-S-T-E-L-L-A-N.
Definition
- 1A feudal lord with a fortified manor.
- 2The governor or caretaker entrusted to oversee a castle or keep for its lord.
Etymology
From Middle English castelain, from Old French castelain (compare modern châtelain), from Latin castellanus (“pertaining to a castle, an occupant of a castle, or a governor of a castle”), from castellum castle, citadel, diminutive of castrum fortified place. See castle. By surface analysis, Old French castel + -an and castle + -an. Doublet of Castilian, castellano, castellanus, and chatelain /chatelaine.
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “castellan”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is C-A-S-T-E-L-L-A-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈkæstələn/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Other uncommon English words near this rank
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.