Cadastre - Etymology

Etymology

The word cadastre came into English through French from Late Latin capitastrum, a register of the poll tax, and the Greek κατάστιχον katastikhon, a list or register, from κατὰ στίχον kata stikhon—literally, "down the line," in the sense of "line by line" along the directions and distances between the corners mentioned and marked by monuments in the metes and bounds.

The word forms the adjective cadastral, used in public administration, primarily for ownership and taxation purposes. The terminology for cadastral divisions may include counties, parishes, ridings, hundreds, sections, lots, blocks and city blocks.

Other languages have kept the original t sound in the second syllable (examples: Italian catasto, German Kataster, Czech katastr, Spanish catastro). In modern Greek, though, it has been replaced by κτηματολόγιο /ktimato'logio/.

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