fortress

Etymology

It is borrowed from Anglo-Norman forteresce and Old French forteresse (“strength, strong place”),^[2][3][4][5] recorded in Anglo-Norman from 1155,^[3] from fort (“strong”);^[2] it is a variant of, or a form parallel to, fortelesce, the source of fortalice.^[2][6][7] Etymonline, Barnhart and the American Heritage Dictionary trace it to Medieval Latin fortalitia,^[4][7][8] while Hoad, Klein and Dictionary.com reconstruct Vulgar Latin *fortaricia;^[9][10][11] either way it goes back to Latin fortis (“strong”), the source of fort.^[8][5][12] The ending continues -itia, which formed nouns of quality or condition, and is also found in duress and largesse.^[4][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

A military stronghold or fortified place: about 1330, in Robert Mannyng's Chronicle.^[2] Barnhart finds it probably before 1300, in Kyng Alisaunder,^[7] and Etymonline dates it to the early 14th century.^[4]

Semantic evolution

In Anglo-Norman the word already meant protection or support as well as a stronghold,^[3] and English uses it figuratively of a place or source of refuge.^[13][14] Johnson (1755) defined it as a stronghold, a fortified place, a castle of defence, and quoted "God is our fortress".^[15] In modern use the OED notes that it is chiefly a stronghold that can hold a large force, often a fortified town.^[2][12] A verb, to furnish with or protect as with a fortress, is recorded from 1542, chiefly in figurative use.^[2] The SOED dates the verb to the late 15th century and labels it archaic.^[12]

Timeline

• probably before 1300 – a fortified place, in Kyng Alisaunder.^[7]
• c. 1330 – a military stronghold.^[2]
• 1542 – verb, to protect with or as with a fortress.^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A large fort or strongly fortified place, especially a permanent one that may include a town: The fortress overlooked the river crossing.
2. A place or thing that gives refuge, protection or support.

Verb

1. (archaic) To protect with or as if with a fortress; to fortify.

Word family

• superfortress

Related words

• fort
• fortalice
• fortify
• fortitude
• force
• comfort

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
4. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
7. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
8. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
9. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
10. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
11. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
12. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
13. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
14. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
15. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.