"C" Word Origins

From Spanish castañeta, diminutive form of castaña, from Latin castanea, from Ancient Greek καστάνεια (kastáneia, “chestnut”), possibly of Pre-Greek origin. Related to the chest in chestnut, formerly chesten.

Formed from the verb phrase "cast away".

From Portuguese or Spanish casta ("lineage, breed"), thought to trace to Latin castus ("pure, chaste").

Traces back to Old French castel ("fortress, castle") or its cognates in other Romance and Germanic languages.

Borrowed from Catalan castell. Doublet of cashel, castellum, castle, and château.

From Old French castelain, ultimately from Latin castellanus, related to castellum ("castle").

Borrowed from Spanish castellano ("Castilian"), from Medieval Latin Castella, related to Latin castrum ("fort").

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.

From Medieval Latin castellātus (“fortified, castellate”) + -ed (forming past participles). Equivalent to the past participle of castellate but attested earlier than other uses of the verb.

Borrowed from Italian castello.

Learned borrowing from Latin castellum. Doublet of cashel, castell, castle, and château.

From cast + -er; the furniture-wheel sense comes from an old use of "cast" meaning "to turn".

First attested in the beginning of the 17ᵗʰ century; borrowed from Latin castīgātus, perfect passive participle of castīgō (“to reprove”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from castus (“pure, chaste”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱes- (“to cut”). Doublet of chastise and chasten, taken through Old French. See also chaste.

From Spanish Castilla, from Medieval Latin Castella, the plural of castellum ("castle, fort") — a nod to the many castles built there.

From Spanish castillo ("castle").

From Middle English castyng, built from cast plus the suffix -ing.

From Old English castel, borrowed from Latin castellum, "small fort" — itself a diminutive of castrum, "fort or camp."

From French castor, "beaver," ultimately from Ancient Greek kástōr — the word originally referred to a hat made of beaver fur, and later shifted to describe rolling wheels and sprinkling containers.

From Latin castoreum, from Ancient Greek καστόριον (kastórion).

From Latin castrare, "to prune or cut away."

From castrate plus the noun-forming suffix -ion.

From Italian castrato, from Latin castrō (“to castrate”), likely from caedō (“to cut”).

The San Francisco neighborhood is named after Californio politician José Castro.

From Old French casuel, from Latin casualis, "happening by chance," from casus, "an event" — the same root as "case" and "cadence."

From casual plus the adverb-forming suffix -ly.

From casual, from Middle French casuel, from Medieval Latin casualitas and Late Latin cāsuālis (“happening by chance”), from Latin cāsus (“event”) (English case), from cadere (“to fall”). Originally meaning “a chance event” (compare casual, as in “casual encounter”), it developed a negative meaning as “an unfortunate event”, especially the loss of a person.

From Old English catt, ultimately from Late Latin cattus — the word's deeper origin is uncertain, but it spread across many languages alongside the domestication of cats in the ancient world.

From Ancient Greek kataklysmos, "deluge, flood," from kata- ("down") plus klyzein ("to wash over").

From cataclysm plus the adjective suffix -ic.

From Middle English catacombe, from Old English catacumbe, catacumbas pl, from Late Latin catacumbae pl, name of the underground cemetery of St. Sebastian in Rome, of unclear origin. Perhaps a dissimilation (influenced by *cumbō (“to lie, recline”)) of Late Latin cata tumbās (literally “among the tombs”) (from Ancient Greek κατά (katá, “under”) and τύμβος (túmbos, “tomb”)). Some sources suggest Ancient Greek κύμβη (kúmbē, “drinking vessel”) as an alternative etymon, but the semantic link is unclear.

From the Latin form of the Ancient Greek κατακόσμησις (katakósmēsis, “arrangement”).

From French Catalan, from the region's own name for itself, Catalunya.

Borrowed from Spanish Catalina, a form of the name Catherine.

From Old French catalogue, from Late Latin catalogus, from Ancient Greek katalogos, "a list or register."

From Catalan Catalunya; the ultimate origin of the name is disputed.

From catalysis plus the agent suffix -ist, ultimately from Ancient Greek katalyein, "to dissolve or break down."

From New Latin catamenia, from Ancient Greek καταμήνια (katamḗnia), the neuter plural of καταμήνιος (katamḗnios, “monthly”), from κατά (katá) + μήν (mḗn, “month”). First attested in 1750.

From catamenia + -al.

Clipping of catamountain (“leopard, panther; ocelot; man living in the mountains”), from Late Middle English catamountain, from Middle English catte of the mountayne, cate of þe mounttaynne (“leopard, panther”).

Borrowed from Italian Catania.

PIE word *ḱóm The adjective is a learned borrowing from Ancient Greek κᾰτᾰπελτῐκός (kătăpeltĭkós, “of or for a catapult”) + English -ic (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’ forming adjectives from nouns). Κᾰτᾰπελτῐκός (Kătăpeltĭkós) is derived from κᾰτᾰπέλτης (kătăpéltēs) + -ῐκός (-ĭkós, suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’ forming adjectives from nouns); while κᾰτᾰπέλτης (kătăpéltēs) is a literary form of κᾰτᾰπᾰ́λτης (kătăpắltēs, “catapult; torture instrument”), from κᾰτᾰ- (kătă-, prefix meaning ‘against’) + πάλλω (pállō, “to poise or sway a missile before it is thrown; to brandish a weapon; (passive) to swing or dash oneself”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pel- (“to beat; to drive; to push”)) + -της (-tēs, suffix forming masculine agent nouns). The noun is derived from the adjective.

From Latin cataplasma, from Ancient Greek κατάπλασμα (katáplasma).

From Latin catapulta, from Ancient Greek katapeltes, from kata- ("down, against") plus pallein ("to hurl a missile").

From Latin cataracta, "floodgate, waterfall," from Ancient Greek katarraktes, "rushing down" — the eye condition sense developed from the idea of a clouded, "waterfall-like" veil over vision.

PIE word *ḱóm From Late Middle English cataractes, cataractis, cateractes, used to translate καταρράκται (katarrháktai, “(probably) floodgates, sluices”) in the Septuagint and cataractae (“floodgates, sluices”) in the Vulgate versions of the Bible. The Middle English words are plural forms of cataract, cataracta, cateract, cateracte (“floodgate of heaven”), from Old French cataracte (modern French cataracte), and from its etymon Latin cataracta (“floodgate; waterfall”), from Ancient Greek καταρ(ρ)άκτης (katar(rh)áktēs, “(noun) waterfall; (adjective) rushing downwards”), from καταρ(ρ)ᾱ́σσω (katar(rh)ā́ssō, “to pour down; to rush downwards”) + -της (-tēs, suffix forming nouns denoting a state of being). Καταρ(ρ)ᾱ́σσω (Katar(rh)ā́ssō) is derived either: * from κᾰτᾰ- (kătă-, prefix meaning ‘downwards’) + ἀρᾰ́σσω (arắssō, “to dash to pieces; to strike”) (further etymology unknown, possibly onomatopoeic) or ῥᾱ́σσω (rhā́ssō, “to dash; to strike”) (possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *wreh₂ǵʰ- (“to pound, strike”)); or * from καταρρηγνύναι (katarrhēgnúnai, “to break down”). By surface analysis, cataract + -s (suffix forming pluralia tantum).

From Ancient Greek katastrophe, "an overturning," from kata- ("down") plus strephein ("to turn").

From catastrophe plus the adjective suffix -ic.

From cat + back, sense 2 (the back of a cat, for riding upon) is modelled on horseback.