Schloss (German pronunciation: [ˈʃlɔs] ; pl. Schlösser [ˈʃlœsɐ] ), formerly written Schloß, is the German term for a building similar to a château, palace, or manor house.
Related terms appear in several Germanic languages. In the Scandinavian languages, the cognate word slot/slott is normally used for what in English could be either a palace or a castle (instead of words in rarer use such as palats/palæ, kastell, or borg). In Dutch, the word slot is considered to be more archaic. Nowadays, one commonly uses paleis or kasteel. But in English, the term does not appear; for instance, in the United Kingdom, this type of structure would be known as a stately home or country house.