château

[sha-toh; French shah-toh] /ʃæˈtoʊ; French ʃɑˈtoʊ/

noun, plural châteaux

[sha-tohz; French shah-toh] /ʃæˈtoʊz; French ʃɑˈtoʊ/ (Show IPA), châteaus.

(in France) a castle or fortress.

a stately residence imitating a distinctively French castle.

a country estate, especially a fine one, in France or elsewhere on the Continent.

(often initial capital letter) a winegrower's estate, especially in the Bordeaux region of France: often used as part of the name of a wine.

Also, chateau.

Origin

1730-40; < French ≪ Latin castellum castellum

Examples from the web for château

We will proceed to the château, and study matters on the spot.
Fire stops them one hundred yards short of the château.
Every grand château and vintage is represented with sycophantic prices.
And that's how they are, those ones up there round the château-that's how they live.
It's a bizarre account of a chateau whose inhabitants transform into one another when we're not looking.
Besides, he says, many of his clients have the yacht and the chateau already.
And the news photo of the little old lady sitting on the steps of her lost chateau in the rain.

British Dictionary definitions for château

chateau

/ˈʃætəʊ; French ʃɑto/

noun (pl) -teaux (-təʊ; -təʊz; French) (-to), -teaus

a country house, castle, or manor house, esp in France

(in Quebec) the residence of a seigneur or (formerly) a governor

(in the name of a wine) estate or vineyard

Word Origin

C18: from French, from Old French chastel, from Latin castellum fortress, castle

Word Origin and History for château

chateau

c.1739, from French château, from Old French chastel (12c.), from Latin castellum "castle" (see castle (n.)).

Encyclopedia Article for château

chateau

in France, during the 13th and 14th centuries, a castle, or structure arranged for defense rather than for residence. Later the term came to designate any seignorial residence and so, generally, a country house of any pretensions.

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