Etymograph

English

castrato

Castrato comes from Latin castrō ‘to castrate’, from caedō ‘to cut’, and perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kh₂eyd-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kh₂eyd-1‘to cut, hew’uncertain
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kh₂éydeti1uncertain
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kaidō1‘to cut, hew, fell’uncertain
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcaedō2‘to cut’uncertain
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcastrō2‘to castrate’
  6. Italianc. 1300–presentcastrato2
  7. Englishearliest quotation 2001castrato2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin caedo
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English castrato
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2001, Bernardine Evaristo, The Emperor's Babe: “A castrato stepped forward, a slender / young man…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kh₂eyd-Wiktionary, Latin caedo‘to cut, hew’uncertain
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kh₂éydetiWiktionary, Latin caedouncertain
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kaidōWiktionary, Latin caedo‘to cut, hew, fell’uncertain
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcaedōWiktionary, English castrato‘to cut’uncertain
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcastrōWiktionary, English castrato‘to castrate’
  6. Italianc. 1300–presentcastratoWiktionary, English castrato
  7. Englishearliest quotation 2001castratoWiktionary, English castrato. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2001, Bernardine Evaristo, The Emperor's Babe: “A castrato stepped forward, a slender / young man…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *kh₂eyd- ‘to cut, hew’

hit, 25 more

through Proto-Italic *kaidō ‘to cut, hew, fell’

scissors, 23 more

through Latin caedō ‘to cut’

decision, precise, cement, concise, circumcision, incision, chisel, scissor, incisive, excision, incisor, caesium, 24 more

Today it means

noun A male who has been castrated, especially a male whose testicles have been removed before puberty in order to retain his boyish voice.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “castrato”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin caedo. 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 *kh₂eyd- / castrato

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