fortification

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English fortificacioun,^[2] borrowed from Old French fortification (“strengthening, fortification”),^[3][4][5] and directly borrowed from Late Latin fortificātiō (“a strengthening, fortifying”).^[4][6] The Anglo-Norman word is recorded from 1365, for strengthening and for the fortifying of a place.^[7] The Late Latin noun is a noun of action from the past participle stem of fortificō (“to make strong”).^[3][8][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The construction or improvement of walls, towers and other defences: 1429, in the Rolls of Parliament, in the phrase for the fortification and amendement yerof.^[4] Etymonline likewise dates the sense "a strengthening" to the early 15th century.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The word covered both the act and its result from the start: by 1435 the plural fortifications meant the defences themselves,^[4] which the OED first records in Caxton's translation of Christine de Pisan (1489).^[5] From 1530 it could mean strengthening of a non-military kind, corroboration or ratification, a use that died out in the 17th century,^[5] and before 1586 it was used figuratively of any means of defence.^[5] From 1642 it also named the art or science of building such works,^[5] and Johnson (1755) put that sense first, calling it the science of military architecture, with "a place built for strength" second.^[10] Later technical uses kept the idea of added strength: the extra thickness of metal on parts of a cannon (1626–69), the strengthening timbers of a whaling ship (from 1820).^[5] It was applied to the strengthening of wine with alcohol from 1885 and to the addition of vitamins to food from 1939.^[5]

Timeline

• 1429 – the building or improvement of walls and other defences.^[4] The OED first records this action sense in 1562.^[5]
• 1435 – a defensive structure, in the plural.^[4] The OED's first record of this is from 1489, in Caxton's Boke of Fayttes of Armes.^[5]
• 1530 – strengthening, corroboration, ratification, in an Act of Henry VIII (obsolete by 1623).^[5]
• before 1586 – figurative, a means of defence, in Sidney's Arcadia.^[5]
• 1626 – in gunnery, the added thickness of metal on parts of a cannon (obsolete by 1669).^[5]
• 1642 – the art or science of fortifying.^[5]
• 1820 – the strengthening timbers of a whaling vessel, in Scoresby.^[5]
• 1885 – the strengthening of wine with alcohol.^[5]
• 1939 – the addition of nutrients, usually vitamins, to food.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A defensive wall, earthwork, tower or similar work, or such works taken together: Old fortifications still ring the harbour town.^[11][5][2]
2. A place that can be defended militarily; a stronghold.^[11]
3. The act of fortifying a place or position with defensive works.^[2][5][11]
4. The art or science of building such works.^[2][5][11]
5. Strengthening in general, as the reinforcement of a structure or the corroboration of a statement.^[2][11]
6. The raising of an ingredient's content by addition, as of alcohol in wine or vitamins in flour; enrichment.^[2][5]
7. The strengthening timbers of a whaling vessel.^[5]

Word family

• nonfortification
• refortification

Related words

• fortify
• fort

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
7. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
8. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
10. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
11. ^ a b c d e Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins