fortress - Definitions from Dictionary.com

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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

for·tress

Audio Help [fawr-tris] Pronunciation Key

–noun

1.	a large fortified place; a fort or group of forts, often including a town; citadel.

2.	any place of exceptional security; stronghold.

[Origin: 1300–50; ME forteresse < OF < VL *fortaricia (cf. ML fortalitia), equiv. to L fort(is) strong + -ar-, formative of uncertain meaning +-icia -ice

]

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
fortress

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

for·tress Audio Help (fôr'trĭs) Pronunciation Key
n. A fortified place, especially a large, permanent military stronghold that often includes a town.

[Middle English forteress, from Old French, from Medieval Latin fortalitia, from Latin fortis, strong; see bhergh-² in Indo-European roots.]

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
fortress

c.1330, from O.Fr. forteresse "strong place," var. of fortelesse, from M.L. fortalitia, from L. fortis "strong" + Eng. -ess, a fairly uncommon suffix (duress, largess being other examples), from L. -itia, forming nouns of quality or condition.

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

fortress
noun
a fortified defensive structure

Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
fortress [ˈfoːtris] noun

a (usually large) fort or fortified building

Arabic:	قَلْعَه، مَعْقِل، حِصْن
Chinese (Simplified):	堡垒, 要塞
Chinese (Traditional):	堡壘, 要塞
Dutch:	vesting
Finnish:	linnoitus
French:	forteresse
German:	die Festung
Greek:	οχυρό
Hungarian:	erőd(ítmény)
Icelandic:	kastali, virki
Italian:	fortezza

Japanese:	要塞
Korean:	요새
Lithuanian:	tvirtovė
Norwegian:	festning
Polish:	forteca
Portuguese (Brazil):	fortaleza
Portuguese (Portugal):	fortaleza
Romanian:	fortăreaţă
Russian:	крепость
Spanish:	fortaleza, fuerte
Turkish:	kale, hisar

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Fortress

Cas"tle\, n. [AS. castel, fr. L. castellum, dim. of castrum a fortified place, castle.]

1. A fortified residence, especially that of a prince or nobleman; a fortress.

The house of every one is to him castle and fortress, as well for his defense againts injury and violence, as for his repose. --Coke.

Our castle's strength Will laugh a siege to scorn. --Shak.

Note: Originally the medi[ae]val castle was a single strong tower or keep, with a palisaded inclosure around it and inferior buidings, such as stables and the like, and surrounded by a moat; then such a keep or donjon, with courtyards or baileys and accessory buildings of greater elaboration a great hall and a chapel, all surrounded by defensive walls and a moat, with a drawbridge, etc. Afterwards the name was retained by large dwellings that had formerly been fortresses, or by those which replaced ancient fortresses. A Donjon or Keep, an irregular building containing the dwelling of the lord and his family; B C Large round towers ferming part of the donjon and of the exterior; D Square tower, separating the two inner courts and forming part of the donjon; E Chapel, whose apse forms a half-round tower, F, on the exterior walls; G H Round towers on the exterior walls; K Postern gate, reached from outside by a removable fight of steps or inclined plane for hoisting in stores, and leading to a court, L (see small digagram) whose pavement is on a level with the sill of the postern, but below the level of the larger court, with which it communicates by a separately fortified gateway; M Turret, containing spiral stairway to all the stories of the great tower, B, and serving also as a station for signal fire, banner, etc.; N Turret with stairway for tower, C; O Echauguettes; P P P Battlemants consisting of merlons and crenels alternately, the merlons being pierced by loopholes; Q Q Machicolations (those at Q defend the postern K); R Outwork defending the approach, which is a road ascending the hill and passing under all four faces of the castle; S S Wall of the outer bailey. The road of approach enters the bailey at T and passes thence into the castle by the main entrance gateway (which is in the wall between, and defended by the towers, C H) and over two drawbridges and through fortified passages to the inner court.

2. Any strong, imposing, and stately mansion.

3. A small tower, as on a ship, or an elephant's back.

4. A piece, made to represent a castle, used in the game of chess; a rook.

Castle in the air, a visionary project; a baseless scheme; an air castle; -- sometimes called a castle in Spain (F. Ch[^a]teau en Espagne).

Syn: Fortress; fortification; citadel; stronghold. See Fortress.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Fortress

Cit"a*del\, n. [F. citadelle, It. citadella, di?. of citt? city, fr. L. civitas. See City.] A fortress in or near a fortified city, commanding the city and fortifications, and intended as a final point of defense.

Syn. -- Stronghold. See Fortress.

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