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Glite Dictionary
contravallation

contravallation

9.9
A line of walls or earth mounds built by attackers around a town they attack to protect themselves from defenders
  • noun
  • /ˌkɒntrəˌvæleɪˈʃən/
  • Archaic
: contravalación
  • The army constructed a contravallation to protect themselves from sorties by the city's defenders.

Examples

  • Historical accounts detail the contravallation surrounding the fortress during the lengthy siege.

  • Engineers were tasked with repairing the damaged contravallation after the defenders' night raid.

  • The army built a contravallation to secure their position.

  • During the siege, the contravallation served as a vital defense.

  • The engineers reinforced the contravallation to safeguard against any surprise attacks from the defenders.

  • Historical documents describe the extensive contravallation that protected the besieging forces from counterattacks.

  • To ensure their safety, the army erected a strong contravallation around the city to fend off the defenders' sorties.

Synonyms

fortification
vscontravallation
12 6.6

A wall or earth mound built to protect a place from attack

is a specific ring built by attackers around a besieged place
intrenchment
vscontravallation
  • Archaic
1 9.9

A defensive position where soldiers stand behind trenches during war

is a surrounding ring built by attackers to protect forces during a siege
vallum
vscontravallation
  • Specialized
1 9.9

A low wall or bank of earth built to protect a camp

is a ring placed around a besieged place to protect attacking troops

Surface Forms

contravallation singular
contravallations plural

Morphology

contravallation = contravallate (opaque) = contra + vall + ation

The verb 'contravallate' and the root 'vall-' (from Latin for rampart) are specialized/archaic, so most learners cannot derive the meaning from the base.

Etymology

The word contravallation breaks into contra- meaning 'against' and vallation from a Latin word for 'wall', like the English wall. So a contravallation is a 'wall against' the defenders — a line of defensive walls attackers build around a place during a siege to protect themselves.