catasta

English

Etymology

From Latin catasta.

Noun

catasta (plural catastae)

1. (historical) A platform for exhibiting slaves for sale.
2. (historical) A stage or place for torture.

Italian

Etymology

From Latin catasta, from Ancient Greek κατάστασις (katástasis, “establishment, institution, method, condition”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kaˈtas.ta/
• Rhymes: -asta
• Hyphenation: ca‧tà‧sta

Noun

catasta f (plural cataste)

1. pile, stack

   una catasta di legno ― a pile of wood

Anagrams

• tascata

Latin

Etymology

From Ancient Greek κατάστασις (katástasis, “establishment, institution, method, condition”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [kaˈtas.ta]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [kaˈtas.ta]

Noun

catasta f (genitive catastae); first declension

1. platform for exhibiting slaves for sale
2. pile for burnings at the stake
3. scaffold, stage

Declension

First-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	catasta	catastae
genitive	catastae	catastārum
dative	catastae	catastīs
accusative	catastam	catastās
ablative	catastā	catastīs
vocative	catasta	catastae

Descendants

• Italian: catasta
• Portuguese: cadaste
  • → Spanish: codaste
    • → Catalan: codast
• → English: catasta
• → Spanish: catasta

References

• “catasta”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “catasta”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• "catasta", in Charles du Fresne du Cange, Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• “catasta”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper’s Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “catasta”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin catasta. Doublet of codaste.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kaˈtasta/ [kaˈt̪as.t̪a]
• Rhymes: -asta
• Syllabification: ca‧tas‧ta

Noun

catasta f (plural catastas)

1. (historical) a torture instrument or rack used to pull the limbs until being dislocated [from 1500]

Further reading

• “catasta”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025
• “catasta”, in Diccionario histórico de la lengua española [Historical Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), 16 edition, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 25 June 2025, →ISSN