castellate

/ˈkastələt/

//ˈkastələt// adj

"castellate" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“castellate” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
10
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - castle-like: built or shaped like a castle.

Corpus desk

Index EN-castellate · castellate · English

castellate · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 10 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "C" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

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.

Key facts for castellate
PropertyValue
Headwordcastellate
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/ˈkastələt/
Letters10
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “castellate” in English

castellatesits beyond the 100,000 most-frequent English words, in the long tail of technical, archaic, or otherwise rare vocabulary where spelling doubt tends to strike hardest.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

castellate is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anadjective, transcribed /ˈkastələt/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for castellate, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Medieval Latin castellātus (“fortified” “made into a castle”), from castellum (“little fortification, castle”) + -ātus (forming participial adjectives). By surface analysis, Latin castellum + -ate (adjective-forming suffix) or castle + -ate. The correct English form is castellate, spelled C-A-S-T-E-L-L-A-T-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    castle-like: built or shaped like a castle.
  2. 2
    Castled: having or furnished with castles.
  3. 3
    Housed or kept in a castle.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. ...The living porphyry, in towers around Grotesquely castellate...
  2. ...Heights castellate...

Etymology

From Medieval Latin castellātus (“fortified” “made into a castle”), from castellum (“little fortification, castle”) + -ātus (forming participial adjectives). By surface analysis, Latin castellum + -ate (adjective-forming suffix) or castle + -ate.

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "castellate"?
"castellate" is spelled C-A-S-T-E-L-L-A-T-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈkastələt/.
What does "castellate" mean?
As an adjective, "castellate" means: castle-like: built or shaped like a castle.
How do you pronounce "castellate"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "castellate" is /ˈkastələt/. 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 "castellate"?
From Medieval Latin castellātus (“fortified” “made into a castle”), from castellum (“little fortification, castle”) + -ātus (forming participial adjectives). By surface analysis, Latin castellum + -ate (adjective-forming suffix) or castle + -ate. 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list