castling

UK/ˈkɑːstlɪŋ/US/ˈkæstlɪŋ/

nounC1Very rare — outside the 30,000 commonest English words, so you will meet it in writing rather than in speech — cast sits at #1,361leans written

Castling is a special move that tucks the king behind a tower. Castling kingside, delay castling, castling is illegal there.

It is the only move in chess where two pieces move at once, and it is forbidden if either piece has already moved or if the king passes through check. Getting it done early is the first thing any beginner is taught.

Definitions of castling

1nouncastlingA special move that tucks the king behind a tower.C1
“By castling early, she moved her king to safety behind a row of pawns.”

castling is a move.

Where it comes from

From castle, the older name for the rook, from the shape of the piece.

Middle English
casten
English
cast
English, today
castling

From cast + -ling. cast comes from Middle English casten. From Middle English casten, from Old Norse kasta (“to throw, cast, overturn”), from Proto-Germanic kastōną (“to throw, cast”), of unknown origin. Cognate with Scots cast (“to cast, throw”), Danish kaste (“to throw”), Swedish kasta (“to throw, cast, fling, toss, discard”), Icelandic kasta (“to pitch, toss”). In the sense of "flinging", displaced native warp.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

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