Meanings
plural fortresses
- A fortified place; a large and permanent fortification, sometimes including a town; for example a fort, a castle; a stronghold; a place of defense or security.
Like the Mesolithic age of 10,000-8000 B.C., the period 6000-4000 B.C. seems to be one of the fall of fortresses and the rise of pastoral nomadism.
1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 160 - board gamesA position that, if obtained by the weaker side, will prevent penetration by the opposing side, generally achieving a draw.
present singular third person fortresses · participle present fortressing · participle past fortressed · past fortressed
Synonyms & antonyms
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinfortis“strong”
- Medieval Latinfortalitia
- Old Frenchforteresce, forteresse, forterece“strong place, fortification”
- Englishfortress
Early 14 c., from Old French forteresce, forteresse, forterece (“strong place, fortification”), variant of fortelesse, from Medieval Latin fortalitia, from Latin fortis (“strong”) (see fort) + -itia, added to adjectives to form nouns of quality or condition. French -ess, from Latin -itia is also in words such as duress, prowess, largesse and richesse. For change of medial -l- to -r- in Old French, compare orne (“elm”) from ulmus; chartre from cartula and chapitre from capitulum. First attested in the 12th century.
More words from Old French, Medieval Latin, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek φρούριον, ὀχύρωμα
- φρούριον (phroúrion)fortified place
- ὀχύρωμα (okhúrōma)fortified place
Arabic قَلْعَة, حِصْن
- قَلْعَة (qalʕa)fortified place
- حِصْن (ḥiṣn)fortified place
Basque gotorleku
- gotorlekufortified place
Bengali দুর্গ, কেল্লা
- দুর্গ (durgo)fortified place
- কেল্লা (kella)fortified place
- কোট (kōṭ)fortified place
Bulgarian кре́пост
- кре́пост (krépost)fortified place
Catalan fortalesa
- fortalesafortified place
Chinese Mandarin 要塞, 城堡
- 要塞 (yàosài)fortified place
- 城堡 (chéngbǎo)fortified place
- 堡壘 /堡垒 (bǎolěi)fortified place
Czech pevnost
- pevnostfortified place
Danish fæstning
- fæstningfortified place
Dutch vesting, fort
- vestingfortified place
- fortfortified place
Esperanto fortreso, fortiko
- fortresofortified place
- fortikofortified place
Estonian kindlus
- kindlusfortified place
Finnish linnoitus
- linnoitusfortified place
French forteresse
- forteressefortified place
German Festung, Festung
- Festungfortified place
- Festungchess technique
Greek φρούριο
- φρούριο (froúrio)fortified place
Hebrew מִבְצָר, מִשְׂגָּב
- מִבְצָר (mivtsár)fortified place
- מִשְׂגָּב (misgáv)fortified place
- מְצוּדָה (m'tzudá)fortified place
Hindi गढ़ी, क़िला
- गढ़ी (gaṛhī)fortified place
- क़िला (qilā)fortified place
- दुर्ग (durg)fortified place
Hungarian vár, erőd
- várfortified place
- erődfortified place
- erődítményfortified place
Icelandic virki
- virkifortified place
Irish dún
- dúnfortified place
Italian fortezza, rocca
- fortezzafortified place
- roccafortified place
Japanese 要塞, 城塞
- 要塞 (yōsai)fortified place
- 城塞 (jōsai)fortified place
Korean 요새, 성새
- 요새 (yosae)fortified place
- 성새 (seongsae)fortified place
Latin castrum, castellum
- castrumfortified place
- castellumfortified place
- arxfortified place
Latvian cietoksnis
- cietoksnisfortified place
Lithuanian tvirtovė
- tvirtovėfortified place
Malay kubu, benteng
- kubufortified place
- bentengfortified place
Norwegian Bokmål festning
- festningfortified place
Polish forteca, twierdza
- fortecafortified place
- twierdzafortified place
- warowniafortified place
Portuguese fortaleza
- fortalezafortified place
Romanian cetate, fortăreață
- cetatefortified place
- fortăreațăfortified place
Russian кре́пость, крепость
- кре́пость (krépostʹ)fortified place
- крепость (krepostʹ)chess technique
Scottish Gaelic dùn
- dùnfortified place
Slovak pevnosť, tvrdza
- pevnosťfortified place
- tvrdzafortified place
Spanish fortaleza
- fortalezafortified place
Swedish fästning
- fästningfortified place
Tamil கோட்டை
- கோட்டை (kōṭṭai)fortified place
Thai ป้อม, ปราการ
- ป้อม (bpɔ̂m)fortified place
- ปราการ (bpraa-gaan)fortified place
Turkish kale, hisar
- kalefortified place
- hisarfortified place
Ukrainian форте́ця, крі́пость
- форте́ця (fortécja)fortified place
- крі́пость (krípostʹ)fortified place
- тверди́ня (tverdýnja)fortified place
Urdu قِلْعَہ, قَلْعَہ
- قِلْعَہ (qil'a)fortified place
- قَلْعَہ (qal'a)fortified place
Vietnamese pháo đài
- pháo đàifortified place
Welsh caer
- caerfortified place
Yiddish פֿעסטונג
- פֿעסטונג (festung)fortified place
Cite this entry
fortress. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fortress
“fortress.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fortress. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “fortress,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fortress.
Source: fortress on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.