Fortress
noun, verb ·Uncommon ·College level
Definitions
- 1 A fortified place; a large and permanent fortification, sometimes including a town; for example a fort, a castle; a stronghold; a place of defense or security.
"Like the Mesolithic age of 10,000-8000 B.C., the period 6000-4000 B.C. seems to be one of the fall of fortresses and the rise of pastoral nomadism."
- 2 a fortified defensive structure wordnet
- 3 A position that, if obtained by the weaker side, will prevent penetration by the opposing side, generally achieving a draw.
- 1 To furnish with a fortress or with fortresses; to guard, to fortify. transitive
"Honour and Beautie in the owners armes, / Are weaklie fortreſt from a world of harmes."
Example
More examples"With you here beside me I'm not afraid of anything. You're my fortress."
Etymology
Early 14 c., from Old French forteresce, forteresse, forterece (“strong place, fortification”), variant of fortelesse, from Medieval Latin fortalitia, from Latin fortis (“strong”) (see fort) + -itia, added to adjectives to form nouns of quality or condition. French -ess, from Latin -itia is also in words such as duress, prowess, largesse and richesse. For change of medial -l- to -r- in Old French, compare orne (“elm”) from ulmus; chartre from cartula and chapitre from capitulum. First attested in the 12th century.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.