castellan

/ˈkæstələn/

//ˈkæstələn// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"castellan" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“castellan” is uncommon English (frequency #90,263 among 5,599 “C” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#90,263
frequency rank, English
5,599
“C” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A feudal lord with a fortified manor.

Corpus desk

Index EN-castellan · castellan · English

castellan · rank #90,263 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #90,263
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,599
  • PHOTO-FINISH Catalonian

Nearest frequency peer: Catalonian (+1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Long-tail ranks near “castellan”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “castellan” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for castellan
PropertyValue
Headwordcastellan
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈkæstələn/
Letters9
Frequency rank#90,263
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “castellan” in English

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).castellanfalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Rare peers in the same band: “Catalonian” (#90,264), “carryout” (#90,261), “carnitas” (#90,260). Among 5,599 “C” headwords, “castellan” is #90,263. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

castellan is uncommon English at frequency #90,263 among 5,599 “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

  1. 1
    A feudal lord with a fortified manor.
  2. 2
    The governor or caretaker entrusted to oversee a castle or keep for its lord.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how castellan appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. The inferior secular senators are ninety-two, containing the ten crown-officers, and eighty-two castellans. The latter are again divided into thirty-three great castellans, and forty-nine little castellans.
  2. Castellans, often exercising control over a few villages and half a dozen small lordships, transformed their banal lordships into quasi-sovereign mini-states, independent of royal or comital sanction or control.

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

chatelain

This word in other languages

castellano(Español)châtelain(Français)Kastellan(Deutsch)castelão(Português)

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

How do you spell "castellan"?
"castellan" is spelled C-A-S-T-E-L-L-A-N. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈkæstələn/.
What does "castellan" mean?
As a noun, "castellan" means: A feudal lord with a fortified manor.
How do you pronounce "castellan"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "castellan" is /ˈkæstələn/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "castellan"?
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 forti... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "castellan", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

cauterize#90,268Charybdis#90,276Caloundra#90,249Cheeseman#90,280

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list