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

Related terms

• castorette
• castoreum

Translations

See also

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

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)
• IPA^(key): (Valencian)

• Audio (Valencian)

  (file)

Noun

castor m (plural castors)

1. beaver

Further reading

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

French

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

Further reading

• “castor”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé , 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, Royal Galician Academy.

Latin

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈkas.tor/,
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈkas.tor/,

Noun

castor m (genitive castoris); third declension

1. beaver

Declension

Third-declension noun.

Synonyms

• fiber, beber (Late Latin)

Derived terms

• castoreātus
• castoreum
• castorīnātus
• castorīnus

Related terms

• Castor

Descendants

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”).

Pronunciation

• Hyphenation: cas‧tor

Noun

castor m (plural castores)

1. beaver

Further reading

• “castor” in Dicionário Aberto based on Novo Diccionário da Língua Portuguesa de Cândido de Figueiredo, 1913

Romanian

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

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/

• Audio (Colombia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -oɾ
• Syllabification: cas‧tor

Noun

castor m (plural castores)

1. beaver

Further reading

• “castor”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014