fascine

fasc·ine
F4A1S1C3I1N1E1
UK/fəˈsiːn/UK/fæ-/US/fəˈsin/New Zealand/fɛˈsiːn/

noun

Originally a cylindrical bundle of small sticks of wood, and now often a bundle of plastic pipes, bound together, and used for strengthening purposes, such as in revetments for riverbanks, and in mats for dams, jetties, etc.

OriginFrench fascine ← Old French faissine ← Latin fascīna →
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Meanings

nounfascine (plural fascines)

plural fascines

  1. businessOriginally a cylindrical bundle of small sticks of wood, and now often a bundle of plastic pipes, bound together, and used for strengthening purposes, such as in revetments for riverbanks, and in mats for dams, jetties, etc.
  2. specificallyfortificationA similar bundle of sticks of wood or plastic pipes used for filling in ditches for armoured fighting vehicles to drive over, and for making parapets, raising batteries, and strengthening ramparts.

    Our forces being landed and ſtationed as I have already mentioned, ſet about erecting a faſchine battery to cannonade the principal fort of the enemy, and in ſomething more than three vveeks, it vvas ready to open.

    1748, [Tobias Smollett], chapter XXXII, in The Adventures of Roderick Random. […], volume I, London: […] [William Strahan] for J[ohn] Osborn […], →OCLC, page 284
    2 more examples

    Halberts differ very little from the bill, being like them conſtructed both for puſhing and cutting: a halbert conſiſts of three parts, the ſpear, or ſometimes a kind of ſvvord blade for puſhing, an ax, or hatchet for ſtriking and cutting, and a flook or hook for pulling down faſcines, in the attack of trenches, or temporary fortifications.

    1786, Francis Grose, “Morris Pikes”, in A Treatise on Ancient Armour and Weapons, […], London: […] S. Hooper, […], →OCLC, pages 51–52

    Verily the man must feel as though he were in a dream; only a short time before, at a shoemaker's ordinary work, the knocking of his hammer mingling with the sighs of a sick wife, and now, fascine knife on hip, helmet on closely cropped head, officers' commands in ear, crowds of people, drums, music, and the shrill whistle of the locomotive!—to march far away to Bohemia; […]

    1889, Cornelia McFadden, chapter V, in The Seamstress of Stettin, Cincinnati, Oh.: Curtis & Jennings; New York, N.Y.: Eaton & Mains, →OCLC, pages 141–142
  3. figurativelyrareSomething which is used for defensive purposes.
verbfascine (third-person singular simple present fascines, present participle fascining, simple past and past participle fascined)

present singular third person fascines · participle present fascining · participle past fascined · past fascined

  1. New ZealandtransitiveTo use fascines to build or reinforce (something), or to fill in (a trench, etc.).

Synonyms & antonyms

Narrower
rouleausap fagotsaucisse

Origin

  1. substrate
  2. Latinfascīna“bundle of sticks”
  3. Old Frenchfaissine
  4. Frenchfascine“bundle of kindling; bundle of branches used to build defences, fill in ditches, etc.; logs arranged horizontally between piles on the banks of a watercourse as an erosion barrier”
  5. Englishfascine

The noun is borrowed from French fascine (“bundle of kindling; bundle of branches used to build defences, fill in ditches, etc.; logs arranged horizontally between piles on the banks of a watercourse as an erosion barrier”), from Old French faissine, from Latin fascīna (“bundle of sticks”), from fascis (“bundle of sticks, faggot, fascine; bundle, package; burden, load”) (ultimately from a late or pseudo-Proto-Indo-European root noun *bʰask- (“band; bundle”), actually originating from a substrate language or as an eastern Mediterranean Wanderwort) + -īna (the nominative, vocative, or ablative feminine singular of -īnus (suffix forming nouns)). The verb is derived from the noun.

More words from French, Old French, Latin

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Bulgarian фашина
  • фашина (fašina)cylindrical bundle of small sticks of wood bound together, used for strengthening purposes; (military fortification) similar bundle of sticks of wood or plastic pipes used for filling in ditches for armoured fighting vehicles to drive over, and for making parapets, raising batteries, and strengthening ramparts
Danish faskine
  • faskinecylindrical bundle of small sticks of wood bound together, used for strengthening purposes; (military fortification) similar bundle of sticks of wood or plastic pipes used for filling in ditches for armoured fighting vehicles to drive over, and for making parapets, raising batteries, and strengthening ramparts
Estonian fašiin, haos
  • fašiincylindrical bundle of small sticks of wood bound together, used for strengthening purposes; (military fortification) similar bundle of sticks of wood or plastic pipes used for filling in ditches for armoured fighting vehicles to drive over, and for making parapets, raising batteries, and strengthening ramparts
  • haoscylindrical bundle of small sticks of wood bound together, used for strengthening purposes; (military fortification) similar bundle of sticks of wood or plastic pipes used for filling in ditches for armoured fighting vehicles to drive over, and for making parapets, raising batteries, and strengthening ramparts
Finnish risunki
  • risunkicylindrical bundle of small sticks of wood bound together, used for strengthening purposes; (military fortification) similar bundle of sticks of wood or plastic pipes used for filling in ditches for armoured fighting vehicles to drive over, and for making parapets, raising batteries, and strengthening ramparts
French fascine
  • fascinecylindrical bundle of small sticks of wood bound together, used for strengthening purposes; (military fortification) similar bundle of sticks of wood or plastic pipes used for filling in ditches for armoured fighting vehicles to drive over, and for making parapets, raising batteries, and strengthening ramparts
German Faschine
  • Faschinecylindrical bundle of small sticks of wood bound together, used for strengthening purposes; (military fortification) similar bundle of sticks of wood or plastic pipes used for filling in ditches for armoured fighting vehicles to drive over, and for making parapets, raising batteries, and strengthening ramparts
Japanese 粗朶
  • 粗朶 (soda)cylindrical bundle of small sticks of wood bound together, used for strengthening purposes; (military fortification) similar bundle of sticks of wood or plastic pipes used for filling in ditches for armoured fighting vehicles to drive over, and for making parapets, raising batteries, and strengthening ramparts
Latin crātis
  • crātiscylindrical bundle of small sticks of wood bound together, used for strengthening purposes; (military fortification) similar bundle of sticks of wood or plastic pipes used for filling in ditches for armoured fighting vehicles to drive over, and for making parapets, raising batteries, and strengthening ramparts
Lithuanian fašina
  • fašinacylindrical bundle of small sticks of wood bound together, used for strengthening purposes; (military fortification) similar bundle of sticks of wood or plastic pipes used for filling in ditches for armoured fighting vehicles to drive over, and for making parapets, raising batteries, and strengthening ramparts
Norwegian Bokmål faskin
  • faskincylindrical bundle of small sticks of wood bound together, used for strengthening purposes; (military fortification) similar bundle of sticks of wood or plastic pipes used for filling in ditches for armoured fighting vehicles to drive over, and for making parapets, raising batteries, and strengthening ramparts
Polish faszyna
  • faszynacylindrical bundle of small sticks of wood bound together, used for strengthening purposes; (military fortification) similar bundle of sticks of wood or plastic pipes used for filling in ditches for armoured fighting vehicles to drive over, and for making parapets, raising batteries, and strengthening ramparts
Romanian fâșie
  • fâșiecylindrical bundle of small sticks of wood bound together, used for strengthening purposes; (military fortification) similar bundle of sticks of wood or plastic pipes used for filling in ditches for armoured fighting vehicles to drive over, and for making parapets, raising batteries, and strengthening ramparts
Russian фаши́на
  • фаши́на (fašína)cylindrical bundle of small sticks of wood bound together, used for strengthening purposes; (military fortification) similar bundle of sticks of wood or plastic pipes used for filling in ditches for armoured fighting vehicles to drive over, and for making parapets, raising batteries, and strengthening ramparts
Spanish fajina
  • fajinacylindrical bundle of small sticks of wood bound together, used for strengthening purposes; (military fortification) similar bundle of sticks of wood or plastic pipes used for filling in ditches for armoured fighting vehicles to drive over, and for making parapets, raising batteries, and strengthening ramparts
Swedish faskin
  • faskincylindrical bundle of small sticks of wood bound together, used for strengthening purposes; (military fortification) similar bundle of sticks of wood or plastic pipes used for filling in ditches for armoured fighting vehicles to drive over, and for making parapets, raising batteries, and strengthening ramparts
Ukrainian фаши́на
  • фаши́на (fašýna)cylindrical bundle of small sticks of wood bound together, used for strengthening purposes; (military fortification) similar bundle of sticks of wood or plastic pipes used for filling in ditches for armoured fighting vehicles to drive over, and for making parapets, raising batteries, and strengthening ramparts

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with fascine

beenbetweengreenmagazinemeanseenscreenmachinecleangenescenedeanjeanroutineHalloweenbeancuisinevaccineEugeneChristineleanfifteengasolinekeen
All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

fascine. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fascine

MLA

“fascine.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fascine. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “fascine,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fascine.

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