Editing Château (section)

==Definition==
[[File:Chateau-de-Roquetaillade Gironde 2099.jpg|thumb|[[Château de Roquetaillade|Château fort de Roquetaillade]]]]
The word château is a French word that has entered the English language, where its meaning is more specific than it is in French. The French word ''château'' denotes buildings as diverse as a medieval fortress, a Renaissance palace and a fine 19th-century country house. Care should therefore be taken when translating the French word ''château'' into English, noting the nature of the building in question. Most French châteaux are "[[palace]]s" or fine "[[English country house|country houses]]" rather than "castles", and for these, the word "château" is appropriate in English. Sometimes the word "palace" is more appropriate. To give an outstanding example, the [[Palace of Versailles|Château de Versailles]], also called in French ''le palais de Versailles'', is so-called because it was located in the countryside when it was built, but it does not bear any resemblance to a castle, so it is usually known in English as the Palace of Versailles. When clarification is needed in French, the term ''château fort'' is used to describe a fortified castle, such as the [[Château de Roquetaillade|Château fort de Roquetaillade]].

The urban counterpart of a château is a ''[[palace|palais]]'' in French, which is usually applied only to very grand residences in a city. This usage is again different from that of the term "palace" in English, where there is no requirement that a palace must be in a city, but the word ''palais'' is rarely used for buildings other than the grandest royal residences. The term ''[[hôtel particulier]]'' is used in French for an urban "private house" of a grand sort.<ref name="Applefield2010">{{cite book |last=Applefield |first=David |title=The Unofficial Guide to Paris |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2ylPVM25SukC&pg=PA112 |date=6 April 2010 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-0-470-63725-8 |page=112 |access-date=6 November 2015 |archive-date=29 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231129125943/https://books.google.com/books?id=2ylPVM25SukC&pg=PA112 |url-status=live }}</ref>