circumvallatory

C3I1R1C3U1M3V4A1L1L1A1T1O1R1Y4

adjective

Having the nature of a circumvallation; consisting of a rampart or trench that entirely encircles the position being defended.

Scrabble 27
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

adjectivecircumvallatory (not comparable)
  1. not comparablerareHaving the nature of a circumvallation; consisting of a rampart or trench that entirely encircles the position being defended.

    Here a broad, deep, circumvallatory trench, hewn from the solid rock, was defended by a wall of great strength erected upon its inner edge.

    1852 [1836], Edgar Allan Poe, “A Tale of Jerusalem”, in James Albert Harrison, editor, The works of the late Edgar Allan Poe, II: Poems and Miscellanies, New York: J. S. Redfield, page 216
    1 more example

    LEXINGTON, in Kentucky, stands partly on the site of an ancient town, which was of great extent and magnificence, as is amply evinced by the wide range of its circumvallatory works, and the quantity of ground it once occupied.

    1834, Josiah Priest, American Antiquities and Discoveries in the West, page 110

Origin

From circumvallation + -ory.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

circumvallatory. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/circumvallatory

MLA

“circumvallatory.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/circumvallatory. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “circumvallatory,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/circumvallatory.

Source: circumvallatory on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.