English
casern
Casern comes from French caserne ‘barracks’, from Latin quaternus ‘four each’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kʷetwóres.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kʷetwóres1‘four’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEquater1‘four times’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEquaternus2as quaterna‘four each’
- Old Occitanc. 950–1500cazerna2
- Frenchc. 1600–presentcaserne3‘barracks’
- Englishtodaycasern3
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Latin quaternus
- 2 Wiktionary, French caserne
- 3 Wiktionary, English casern
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kʷetwóresWiktionary, Latin quaternus‘four’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEquaterWiktionary, Latin quaternus‘four times’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEquaternusWiktionary, French caserneas quaterna‘four each’
- Old Occitanc. 950–1500cazernaWiktionary, French caserne
- Frenchc. 1600–presentcaserneWiktionary, English casern‘barracks’
- EnglishtodaycasernWiktionary, English casern
The story
From French caserne, attested since the late 1600s.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *kʷetwóres ‘four’
fourth, quarry, cater, farthing, quatre, cuatro, tetrad, quatrain, ferd, 17 more
through Latin quaternus ‘four each’
Today it means
noun A lodging for soldiers in a garrison town (formerly usually near the rampart); a barracks.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “casern”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin quaternus, French caserne. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *kʷetwóres / casern