SINCE 1828

An Encyclopædia Britannica Company

Medical Dictionary

Castanea

play

noun Cas·ta·nea \ka-ˈstā-nē-ə\

Medical Definition of Castanea

: a small genus of rough-barked trees or shrubs (family Fagaceae) native to temperate regions that includes the chestnut of eastern North America

Seen and Heard

What made you want to look up Castanea? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).

show

WORD OF THE DAY

wreak

play

to bring about or cause (something)

Words at Play

Words About Word Play

Don't just eat your words—play with them!

alt-596f95fe451e7

'Drought' & 'Drouth' Take Us Back In Time

A variant spelling with a long history

alt-59721dd897313

The 'Best' Way to Sign Off On An E-mail

Give them your best

Words and Phrases That Come from the Dinner Table

Fill your plate with these surprising food words

Ask the Editors

video-title-words-of-the-year-1066

Words of the Year: 1066

Or, Why Pig Meat is Called 'Pork' and Cow Meat is Called 'Beef'

How Often Is 'Biweekly'?

Don't get us started on 'bimonthly'

video-irregardless-grammar-peeve-blend-of-the-synonyms-irrespective-and-regardless

Irregardless

It is in fact a real word (but that doesn't mean you should use it).

video-moose-goose-weird-plurals

Weird Plurals

One goose, two geese. One moose, two... moose. What's up with that?

Word Games

The Emoji Quiz

Think you’re an emoji 👓 expert? Let’s see 🤔

Take the quiz

A Game of Thrones Word Quiz

In the Game of Thrones quiz, you learn some new vocabulary. (It’s quite safe, really. You will not die.)

Take the quiz

Spell It

Can you spell these 10 commonly misspelled words?

Take the quiz

Word Winder's CrossWinder

Word Winder's CrossWinder

A game of winding words.

Play the game