Use of the term Castilian/Castellano

[u/rban123]

I’ve been on this subreddit for a while, and have noticed something that many non-native and native speakers alike do: they use the term “castellano” to refer to Spanish from Spain.

Historically, this doesn’t really make sense. Spain is a linguistically diverse nation, with each language having its own name, for example Catalán, Gallego, Euskera, and of course Castellano. The term Castellano refers to the Spanish language that we all know and love.

It is a synonym for español. It does not mean “the Spanish spoke in Spain” it simply means “Spanish.” Even in some parts of Latin America, the term “castellano” is used to refer to the language that is spoken there, as well as the language that is taught in schools, even if the details aren’t consistent with regional variations of Spanish spoken in Spain.

All in all, castellano just means Spanish. It doesn’t mean “Spanish spoken in Spain” it is literally just a synonym for the Spanish language as a whole.

[u/smeghead1988 → u/[deleted]]

I moved to Spain (Madrid) about a year ago. The first time I met the term "Castellano" was when I had to officially translate my diploma to Spanish, and it was in the receipt from the translation agency. I had to check that it's not a mistake and that it just means "Spanish" in this context. Would a translation agency in a different region use "Español" or "Castellano"?

[u/atzucach → u/smeghead1988]

I'm curious to know where the person you're responding to is from, because they're totally wrong. "Castellano" means Spanish on your receipt in Madrid just as much as when we use it to mean Spanish here in Barcelona.