Synonyms
Example Sentences
the boys built a snow fortress and then challenged the neighborhood kids to an in-your-face snowball fight
Recent Examples on the Web
Revolutionaries stormed the Bastille fortress and prison on July 14 and imprisoned the royal family in the Tuileries Palace that October.
—
Meilan Solly, Smithsonian Magazine, 17 Mar. 2023
Built upon an ancient Greek citadel, the fortress has grown with each passing empire — the Byzantines, the Venetians, the Ottomans.
—Helene Stapinski, BostonGlobe.com, 16 Mar. 2023
The goal, said Gen. Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, commander of the Ukrainian armed forces, is to use Bakhmut as a fortress from which to block Russian advances.
—Eric Nagourney, New York Times, 14 Mar. 2023
It was called the Alcazar, a Spanish word, based on an older Arabic word, for fortress or palace.
—Jacques Kelly, Baltimore Sun, 11 Mar. 2023
Another possibility is touring some of the reserve’s hundreds of archeological sites, like the old stone fortress that crowns Madwaleni Mountain, a massive granite dome overlooking the Umfolozi River.
—Joe Yogerst, CNN, 9 Mar. 2023
Borromeo Castle — a medieval fortress overlooking Lake Maggiore.
—People Staff, Peoplemag, 8 Mar. 2023
The fundamental problem of the shabby neighborhood will not be addressed with another colonnaded fortress.
—William Finnegan, The New Yorker, 6 Mar. 2023
Castles from the Crusades era, a fortress that hosted the Romans and the Ottomans, and a citadel in one of the oldest inhabited cities on Earth are among the disaster’s rubble.
—Anumita Kaur, Washington Post, 24 Feb. 2023
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These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word ‘fortress.’ Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Etymology
Middle English forteresse, from Anglo-French fortelesce, forteresse, from Medieval Latin fortalitia, from Latin fortis strong
First Known Use
14th century, in the meaning defined above
Time Traveler
The first known use of fortress was
in the 14th century
Dictionary Entries Near fortress
Cite this Entry
“Fortress.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fortress. Accessed 14 Apr. 2023.
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27 Mar 2023
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Merriam-Webster unabridged
By far the most remarkable sight in the fortress is the late works performed by that little enterprizing adventurous animal calld Man. ❋ Unknown (2009)
“Yes, the Forerunners built this place, what they called a fortress world, in order to —” ❋ Dietz, William (2003)
This fortress is as ancient as the town, said to have been built about the middle of the twelfth century, and is situated on an elevation at the foot of which flows the Moskva, but there is nothing remarkable in the style excepting its antiquity. ❋ Unknown (1903)
At last Linton, leaving Bowse in charge of what he called the fortress, proceeded with Raby and Mitchell, carrying the remainder of the water to aid those who either could not or would not move. ❋ William Henry Giles Kingston (1847)
This combined novel and treatise traces the history of an imaginary French fortress from the 4th Century B.C. through the Napoleonic Wars, featuring detailed accounts of seven sieges. ❋ Unknown (2010)
I [gave] myself a fortress so that my [pubes] would [be safe]. ❋ Team11 (2005)
Yo mans, get away from my car man, it’s my new [fortress].
Hey don’t u be coming up in my fortress [eating chips] while [my baby’s] mama there! ❋ Scotty Scott (2010)
John: Have you heard Fortress?
[Jim]: Yes! It’s [a f]***** [aural orgasm]! ❋ Bloodmeat7 (2008)
[hangout fortress] [is ass] ❋ Not Flamez (2021)
«Maria will never be single because she has a massive [dick fortress].»
— «Hey go talk to her!»
— «I can’t! See all [those guys]?! Her dick fortress is [impenetrable]!» ❋ Badtree132 (2015)
[TF2] turned into Hat Fortress, [I mean really], its all about fucking [hats] now. ❋ IDTia (2012)
[Superman] [keeps] all his discoveries, artifacts, and inventions in his fortress of solitude. ❋ Abdallah (2006)
Greg: Whatcha do on the weekend, Mike?
Mike: Well, I was playing Dwarf Fortress, my fort died.
Greg: [Whadda] fuck is Dwarf Fortress? Sounds shit…
Mike: No, it’s awesome, it’s [ASCII]!
Greg: Gaaaaaaaay.
Mike: [FALCOOOON] PUUUUUUNCH!!! ❋ Red Fortune (2009)
«Team Fortress is [better than] [Counter Strike]. No, I’m [serious].» ❋ Tyler (2004)
Oh man… [the sun] is [coming up]… time to [build] the mong fortress… ❋ Superm0nkey (2007)
Other forms: fortresses
A fortress is a large building or complex of buildings used as a military stronghold. In a military sense, a fortress is often called a “fort.»
From its original sense of stronghold, the word fortress has stretched to include strongholds in a more figurative sense. Martin Luther used fortress to describe unfailing spiritual support when he wrote, “A mighty fortress is our God.” When someone has a hard time trusting others, you might say they have retreated to a «fortress of their own making.»
Definitions of fortress
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noun
a fortified defensive structure
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synonyms:
fort
see moresee less-
examples:
- show 4 examples…
- hide 4 examples…
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Alhambra
a fortified Moorish palace built near Granada by Muslim kings in the Middle Ages
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Bastille
a fortress built in Paris in the 14th century and used as a prison in the 17th and 18th centuries; it was destroyed July 14, 1789 at the start of the French Revolution
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Tower of London
a fortress in London on the Thames; used as a palace and a state prison and now as a museum containing the crown jewels
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Machu Picchu
Inca fortress city in the Andes in Peru discovered in 1911; it may have been built in the 15th century
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types:
- show 4 types…
- hide 4 types…
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alcazar
any of various Spanish fortresses or palaces built by the Moors
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martello tower
a circular masonry fort for coastal defence
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presidio
a fortress established in the southwestern United States by the Spanish in order to protect their missions and other holdings
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sconce
a small fort or earthwork defending a ford, pass, or castle gate
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type of:
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defence, defense, defensive structure
a structure used to defend against attack
DISCLAIMER: These example sentences appear in various news sources and books to reflect the usage of the word ‘fortress’.
Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Vocabulary.com or its editors.
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It will undoubtedly happen, that the enemy will make the attempt, today, tomorrow or the next day, at some time, to break into this fortress of Europe at one point or another. That will undoubtedly be the case.
Heinrich Himmler
ETYMOLOGY OF THE WORD FORTRESS
From Old French forteresse, from Medieval Latin fortalitia, from Latin fortis strong.
Etymology is the study of the origin of words and their changes in structure and significance.
PRONUNCIATION OF FORTRESS
GRAMMATICAL CATEGORY OF FORTRESS
Fortress is a verb and can also act as a noun.
A noun is a type of word the meaning of which determines reality. Nouns provide the names for all things: people, objects, sensations, feelings, etc.
The verb is the part of the sentence that is conjugated and expresses action and state of being.
See the conjugation of the verb fortress in English.
WHAT DOES FORTRESS MEAN IN ENGLISH?
Fortification
Fortifications are military constructions or buildings designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and also used to solidify rule in a region during peace time. Humans have constructed defensive works for many thousands of years, in a variety of increasingly complex designs. The term is derived from the Latin fortis and facere. From very early history to modern times, walls have been a necessity for cities to survive in an ever changing world of invasion and conquest. Some settlements in the Indus Valley Civilization were the first cities to be fortified. In ancient Greece, large stone walls had been built in Mycenaean Greece, such as the ancient site of Mycenae. A Phrourion was a fortified collection of buildings being used as a military garrison and is the equivalent of the Roman castellum or English fortress. These construction mainly served the purpose of a watch tower, to guard certain roads, passes, and lands detrimental to the kingdom. Though smaller than a real fortress, these constructions acted as a border guard rather than a real strongpoint to watch and maintain the border.
Definition of fortress in the English dictionary
The first definition of fortress in the dictionary is a large fort or fortified town. Other definition of fortress is a place or source of refuge or support. Fortress is also to protect with or as if with a fortress.
CONJUGATION OF THE VERB TO FORTRESS
PRESENT
Present
I fortress
you fortress
he/she/it fortresses
we fortress
you fortress
they fortress
Present continuous
I am fortressing
you are fortressing
he/she/it is fortressing
we are fortressing
you are fortressing
they are fortressing
Present perfect
I have fortressed
you have fortressed
he/she/it has fortressed
we have fortressed
you have fortressed
they have fortressed
Present perfect continuous
I have been fortressing
you have been fortressing
he/she/it has been fortressing
we have been fortressing
you have been fortressing
they have been fortressing
Present tense is used to refer to circumstances that exist at the present time or over a period that includes the present time. The present perfect refers to past events, although it can be considered to denote primarily the resulting present situation rather than the events themselves.
PAST
Past
I fortressed
you fortressed
he/she/it fortressed
we fortressed
you fortressed
they fortressed
Past continuous
I was fortressing
you were fortressing
he/she/it was fortressing
we were fortressing
you were fortressing
they were fortressing
Past perfect
I had fortressed
you had fortressed
he/she/it had fortressed
we had fortressed
you had fortressed
they had fortressed
Past perfect continuous
I had been fortressing
you had been fortressing
he/she/it had been fortressing
we had been fortressing
you had been fortressing
they had been fortressing
Past tense forms express circumstances existing at some time in the past,
FUTURE
Future
I will fortress
you will fortress
he/she/it will fortress
we will fortress
you will fortress
they will fortress
Future continuous
I will be fortressing
you will be fortressing
he/she/it will be fortressing
we will be fortressing
you will be fortressing
they will be fortressing
Future perfect
I will have fortressed
you will have fortressed
he/she/it will have fortressed
we will have fortressed
you will have fortressed
they will have fortressed
Future perfect continuous
I will have been fortressing
you will have been fortressing
he/she/it will have been fortressing
we will have been fortressing
you will have been fortressing
they will have been fortressing
The future is used to express circumstances that will occur at a later time.
CONDITIONAL
Conditional
I would fortress
you would fortress
he/she/it would fortress
we would fortress
you would fortress
they would fortress
Conditional continuous
I would be fortressing
you would be fortressing
he/she/it would be fortressing
we would be fortressing
you would be fortressing
they would be fortressing
Conditional perfect
I would have fortress
you would have fortress
he/she/it would have fortress
we would have fortress
you would have fortress
they would have fortress
Conditional perfect continuous
I would have been fortressing
you would have been fortressing
he/she/it would have been fortressing
we would have been fortressing
you would have been fortressing
they would have been fortressing
Conditional or «future-in-the-past» tense refers to hypothetical or possible actions.
IMPERATIVE
Imperative
you fortress
we let´s fortress
you fortress
The imperative is used to form commands or requests.
NONFINITE VERB FORMS
Past participle
fortressed
Present Participle
fortressing
Infinitive shows the action beyond temporal perspective. The present participle or gerund shows the action during the session. The past participle shows the action after completion.
WORDS THAT RHYME WITH FORTRESS
Synonyms and antonyms of fortress in the English dictionary of synonyms
SYNONYMS OF «FORTRESS»
The following words have a similar or identical meaning as «fortress» and belong to the same grammatical category.
Translation of «fortress» into 25 languages
TRANSLATION OF FORTRESS
Find out the translation of fortress to 25 languages with our English multilingual translator.
The translations of fortress from English to other languages presented in this section have been obtained through automatic statistical translation; where the essential translation unit is the word «fortress» in English.
Translator English — Chinese
城堡
1,325 millions of speakers
Translator English — Spanish
fortaleza
570 millions of speakers
English
fortress
510 millions of speakers
Translator English — Hindi
किले
380 millions of speakers
Translator English — Arabic
قلعة
280 millions of speakers
Translator English — Russian
крепость
278 millions of speakers
Translator English — Portuguese
fortaleza
270 millions of speakers
Translator English — Bengali
দুর্গ
260 millions of speakers
Translator English — French
forteresse
220 millions of speakers
Translator English — Malay
Kubu
190 millions of speakers
Translator English — German
Festung
180 millions of speakers
Translator English — Japanese
要塞
130 millions of speakers
Translator English — Korean
요새
85 millions of speakers
Translator English — Javanese
Bèntèng
85 millions of speakers
Translator English — Vietnamese
pháo đài
80 millions of speakers
Translator English — Tamil
கோட்டை
75 millions of speakers
Translator English — Marathi
किल्ला
75 millions of speakers
Translator English — Turkish
kale
70 millions of speakers
Translator English — Italian
fortezza
65 millions of speakers
Translator English — Polish
twierdza
50 millions of speakers
Translator English — Ukrainian
фортеця
40 millions of speakers
Translator English — Romanian
cetatea
30 millions of speakers
Translator English — Greek
φρούριο
15 millions of speakers
Translator English — Afrikaans
vesting
14 millions of speakers
Translator English — Swedish
fästning
10 millions of speakers
Translator English — Norwegian
festning
5 millions of speakers
Trends of use of fortress
TENDENCIES OF USE OF THE TERM «FORTRESS»
The term «fortress» is very widely used and occupies the 12.856 position in our list of most widely used terms in the English dictionary.
FREQUENCY
Very widely used
The map shown above gives the frequency of use of the term «fortress» in the different countries.
Principal search tendencies and common uses of fortress
List of principal searches undertaken by users to access our English online dictionary and most widely used expressions with the word «fortress».
FREQUENCY OF USE OF THE TERM «FORTRESS» OVER TIME
The graph expresses the annual evolution of the frequency of use of the word «fortress» during the past 500 years. Its implementation is based on analysing how often the term «fortress» appears in digitalised printed sources in English between the year 1500 and the present day.
Examples of use in the English literature, quotes and news about fortress
10 QUOTES WITH «FORTRESS»
Famous quotes and sentences with the word fortress.
My distinguishing feature is the gap between my teeth. I had to wear a brace because my teeth used to stick out like guns from a fortress.
I don’t think anyone who has followed the progress of the Islamofascist terrorists who have threatened us believe we are going to be safe if we try a fortress mentality, to step back and say no one is going to hit us, they don’t care about the United States. They do.
I was thinking, too, of Superman and his fortress of solitude.
The home to everyone is to him his castle and fortress, as well for his defence against injury and violence, as for his repose.
The Arabs are ready to accept a strong Israel with nuclear arms — all it has to do is open the gates of its fortress and make peace.
In order to master the unruly torrent of life the learned man meditates, the poet quivers, and the political hero erects the fortress of his will.
In front of us was not a line but a fortress position, twenty miles deep, entrenched and fortified, defended by masses of machine-gun posts and thousands of guns in a wide arc. No chance for cavalry!
I would like to give it a name: it is the great fortress of Europe.
It will undoubtedly happen, that the enemy will make the attempt, today, tomorrow or the next day, at some time, to break into this fortress of Europe at one point or another. That will undoubtedly be the case.
The fortress of Europe with its frontiers must be held and will be held too, as long as is necessary.
10 ENGLISH BOOKS RELATING TO «FORTRESS»
Discover the use of fortress in the following bibliographical selection. Books relating to fortress and brief extracts from same to provide context of its use in English literature.
Contains a sneak preview of Inferno, Dan Brown’s astonishing new Robert Langdon thriller.
2
Getting Started with Dwarf Fortress: Learn to play the most …
The trick is getting started. In this guide, Fortress geek Peter Tyson takes you through the basics of this menacing realm, and helps you overcome the formidable learning curve.
3
Marriage: A Fortress for Well-Being
Helps couples use spirituality in their everyday lives with the aim of strengthening their marriage. Original.
In a classic novel set in middle-class Chinese society on the eve of the Sino-Japanese War, Fang-Hung-chien obtains a teaching position, using a degree from a fake American university, in a Chinese university—where the pseudo-intellectuals …
Focusing on three case histories, the author attempts to reveal the problems and struggles of the autistic child
At school the morning bell rings.
Young Cayleb Ahrmahk has accomplished things few people could even dream of.
Lyrical approaches to the relationships between solitude, beauty and the world.
9
Masada: The Last Fortress
As the Roman army marches inexorably across the Judean desert towards the fortress of Masada, Simon and his family and friends prepare, along with the rest of the Jewish Zealots, to fight and never surrender.
Gloria D. Miklowitz, 1999
Less an anatomy of institutions and administrations than a searching biographical study of the outsize personalities who headed its operations and in consequence steered Israel’s course since its foundation, this book is a landmark in the …
10 NEWS ITEMS WHICH INCLUDE THE TERM «FORTRESS»
Find out what the national and international press are talking about and how the term fortress is used in the context of the following news items.
Someone Made A Team Fortress 2 Dating Sim
The Team Fortress 2 dating sim is coming to us by way of Schiphys, who describes themself as, “a damn scientist who makes things on the … «Kotaku, Jul 15»
Are cracks forming in fortress Alberta?
Alberta has been a conservative fortress for decades. Successive conservative parties (Progressive Conservatives, Reform, Canadian Alliance, … «The Globe and Mail, Jul 15»
Fortress Investment Group Lowered to «Sell» at Zacks (FIG)
Fortress Investment Group LLC logo Zacks lowered shares of Fortress Investment Group (NYSE:FIG) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report … «Dakota Financial News, Jul 15»
The Ketamine Connection
The target? The village of Boshe, a drug haven known by local people as “The Fortress”. Before the raid, they thought Boshe was impenetrable. «BBC News, Jul 15»
How the Hawks built their Tasmanian fortress
With Launceston the focus of the footy world this weekend, we look at how a relationship with the Apple Isle has benefited the AFL premiers. «The New Daily, Jul 15»
Fan Uncovers Elaborate Team Fortress 2 Easter Egg
Reason number 437 I wish Valve would release more games: they’re good at packing them with smart little things. (Warning: this post gets … «Kotaku, Jul 15»
Team Fortress 2 might be getting another update very soon …
Team Fortress 2 got a fairly sizeable update earlier this year when the Gun Mettle campaign launched. In case you missed it, it’s a three-month … «games.on.net, Jul 15»
Where Fortress is Taking its Pure-Play Senior Housing REIT Next
With the backing of one of the nation’s major investment groups, Fortress Investment Group (NYSE: FIG), and a previous foray into senior living … «Senior Housing News, Jul 15»
Almost a fortress
Faris Ramli and Hafiz Abu Sujad celebrating the latter’s equaliser, when a cut-back from outside the box by the former found its way via a … «AsiaOne, Jul 15»
Fortress Hospital gives new hope to renal patients
However, more renal patients are set to benefit patients following the construction of a renal facility in Ruwa at the newly-renovated Fortress … «NewsDay, Jul 15»
REFERENCE
« EDUCALINGO. Fortress [online]. Available <https://educalingo.com/en/dic-en/fortress>. Apr 2023 ».
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From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A fortress is a building designed to be defended, which means it was very hard for enemies to get inside. Fortification kept the people inside safe. There is little difference between a fortress and a castle. Fortresses normally have thick stone walls, thicker but less tall than in castles so artillery cannot break them. There were very small windows, without glass, so that soldiers inside could fire out through them. As time passed, the weapons they used changed, from bow and arrow, crossbow, gun or cannon. Soldiers outside had great difficulty firing into such small windows. The people defending the fortress were also able to drop things like rocks and boiling oil on the heads of those below. Successful attacks were usually sieges.
Fortresses were not designed for comfort. They were dark and often damp. The Tower of London is an example of a fortress.