castor

See also: Castor

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈkɑːs.tə/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈkæs.tɚ/
• Rhymes: -ɑːstə(ɹ), -æstə(ɹ)
• Homophone: caster

Etymology 1

From Middle French castor, from Old French castor (“beaver”), from Latin castor (“beaver”), from Ancient Greek κάστωρ (kástōr), from Doric Greek κάστον (káston, “wood”).

Noun

castor (countable and uncountable, plural castors)

1. A hat made from the fur of the beaver.
   • 1826, [Walter Scott], chapter V, in Woodstock; Or, The Cavalier. […], volume I, Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green, →OCLC, page 135:

     I have been always noted for the jaunty manner in which I wear my castor— […]

2. A heavy quality of broadcloth for overcoats.
3. Castoreum (bitter exudate of mature beavers).
4. Any of various nymphalid butterflies of the genus Ariadne, of Africa and Asia.

Synonyms

• (hat): beaver, castoreum (archaic)
• (cloth): beaver

Derived terms

• castorin

 

Related terms

• castorette
• castoreum

Translations

hat

• Bulgarian: бобро́ва ша́пка f (bobróva šápka)
• Czech: bobrovka (cs) f
• Finnish: majavahattu
• Italian: castoro (it)
• Russian: бобро́вая ша́пка f (bobróvaja šápka)

cloth — see beaver

See also

• castor bean
• castor oil
• castor sac

 

Etymology 2

Named from Greek mythology; see Castor and Pollux. The name pollux was given to another mineral with which it was always found.

Noun

castor (uncountable)

1. (mineralogy) A variety of petalite found in Elba.

Synonyms

• castorite

Etymology 3

Alternative spelling of caster, via cast +‎ -or (the Latinate varient of -er).

Noun

castor (plural castors)

1. (especially UK) Alternative spelling of caster, especially in its senses
   1. A pivoting roller attached to the bottom of furniture to allow it to be moved.
   2. A container with a perforated cap for sprinkling its contents, especially salt, pepper, etc.
      • 1851 November 14, Herman Melville, “The Ramadan”, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC, page 92:

        Mrs. Hussey soon appeared, with a mustard-pot in one hand and a vinegar-cruet in the other, having just broken away from the occupation of attending to the castors, and scolding her little black boy meantime.

Derived terms

• castor sugar
• castored
• castoring

References

“castor”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• Castro, Cators, Croats, acrost, actors, co-star, costar, scroat, scrota, tarocs

Asturian

Noun

castor m (plural castores)

1. beaver

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin castŏrem.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [kəsˈto]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [kasˈtoɾ]

• Audio (Valencia):

  (file)

Noun

castor m (plural castors)

1. beaver

Further reading

• “castor” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.

French

castor

Etymology

Inherited from Middle French castor, from Old French castor, borrowed from Latin castor, itself from Ancient Greek κάστωρ (kástōr). Though borrowed into French early on, the word remained a more learned term at first, while bièvre was the popular synonym.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kas.tɔʁ/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Audio (Paris):

  (file)

• Homophone: castors

Noun

castor m (plural castors)

1. beaver (aquatic mammal)

   Synonym: (archaic) bièvre

Derived terms

• castor commun
• castor d’Eurasie
• castor d’Europe

 

Further reading

• “castor”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Anagrams

• scorât

Galician

Etymology

From Latin castor (“beaver”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kasˈtoɾ/

Noun

castor m (plural castores)

1. beaver

   Synonym: befre

Further reading

• “castor”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2024

Latin

Etymology

From Ancient Greek κάστωρ (kástōr), from Doric Greek κάστον (káston, “wood”). See also Sanskrit कस्तूरी (kastūrī, “musk”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈkas.tor/, [ˈkäs̠t̪ɔr]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈkas.tor/, [ˈkäst̪or]

Noun

castor m (genitive castoris); third declension

1. beaver

Declension

Third-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	castor	castorēs
genitive	castoris	castorum
dative	castorī	castoribus
accusative	castorem	castorēs
ablative	castore	castoribus
vocative	castor	castorēs

Synonyms

• fiber, beber (Late Latin)

Derived terms

• castoreātus
• castoreum
• castorīnātus
• castorīnus

Related terms

• Castor

Descendants

• → Catalan: castor
• → Old French: castor
  • Middle French: castor
    • French: castor
    • → English: castor
• → Friulian: castôr
• → Galician: castor
• → Italian: castoro
• → Portuguese: castor
• → Romanian: castor
• → Spanish: castor

See also

• Castor

References

• “castor”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “castor”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• castor in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• castor in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• “castor”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “castor”, in William Smith, editor (1848), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, London: John Murray

Anagrams

• Arctos

Norman

Etymology

Borrowed from French castor, from Latin castor (“beaver”).

Noun

castor m (plural castors)

1. (Jersey) beaver

Portuguese

Etymology

From Latin castōrem (“beaver”), from Ancient Greek κάστωρ (kástōr).

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /kasˈtoʁ/ [kasˈtoh]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /kasˈtoʁ/ [kasˈtoh]
  • (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /kasˈtoɾ/
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /kaʃˈtoʁ/ [kaʃˈtoχ]
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /kasˈtoɻ/

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /kɐʃˈtoɾ/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /kɐʃˈtoɾ/
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /kɐʃˈto.ɾi/

• Hyphenation: cas‧tor

Noun

castor m (plural castores)

1. beaver
2. fur of a beaver
3. castor (a hat made from the fur of the beaver)

Derived terms

• castor-americano
• castor-de-kellogg
• castor-europeu
• castor-gigante
• castorenho

 

Further reading

• “castor” in Dicionário Aberto based on Novo Diccionário da Língua Portuguesa de Cândido de Figueiredo, 1913
• “castor”, in Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), São Paulo: Editora Melhoramentos, 2015–2024
• “castor”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2024

Romanian

Castori

Etymology

Borrowed from French castor and its source, Latin castor, from Ancient Greek κάστωρ (kástōr).

Noun

castor m (plural castori)

1. beaver

   Synonyms: breb (“European beaver”); (less common) biber

Declension

	singular			plural
	indefinite	definite		indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	castor	castorul		castori	castorii
genitive-dative	castor	castorului		castori	castorilor
vocative	castorule			castorilor

Further reading

• castor in DEX online—Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language)

Spanish

Etymology

From Latin castor (“beaver”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kasˈtoɾ/ [kasˈt̪oɾ]

• Audio (Colombia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -oɾ
• Syllabification: cas‧tor

Noun

castor m (plural castores)

1. beaver

Further reading

• “castor”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.7, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2023 November 28