Etymograph

English

chastise

Chastise comes from Old French chastier ‘to punish’, from Latin castīgō ‘to castigate, chastise, reprove’, and ultimately from Proto-Italic *kastos.

  1. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kastos1reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcastus2as *castis‘purity, virtue’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcastīgō3‘to castigate, chastise, reprove’
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400chastier3‘to punish’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500chastisen3
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1611chastise3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin castus
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin castigo
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English chastise
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1611, The Holy Bible, London: […] Robert Barker: “And now whereas my father did lade you with…”.

Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kastosWiktionary, Latin castusreconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcastusWiktionary, Latin castigoas *castis‘purity, virtue’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcastīgōWiktionary, English chastise‘to castigate, chastise, reprove’
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400chastierWiktionary, English chastise‘to punish’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500chastisenWiktionary, English chastise
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1611chastiseWiktionary, English chastise. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1611, The Holy Bible, London: […] Robert Barker: “And now whereas my father did lade you with…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *ḱes- ‘to cut’

castle, caries, castello, castell, cassation, cashel, castrate, 23 more

through Latin castus ‘purity, virtue’

caste, 6 more

Today it means

verb To punish, especially by corporal punishment.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “chastise”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin castus, Latin castigo. 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-Italic *kastos / chastise

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