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fortification

fortification

2 8.1
Designing and building military defenses to protect places from attack
  • noun
  • /ˌfɔrtɪfɪˈkeɪʃən/
  • Specialized
translation icon : fortificación
  • Meanwhile, Leo the Third began his preparations. Envoys were sent to the Bulgars asking for help and the city's fortifications were improved.
  • fortification wall
  • fortification building

Once you invest in a local site and pay for the cost of fortification, you don't move.

Examples

  • If this is a Byzantine-era fortification, its meaning is significant.

    Academic text (2005)

  • Sergeant O'Neal kneels down by a sandbag fortification.

    Fiction book (1998)

  • Between us and the fortification wall lay first the river, then the moat.

    Academic text (2009)

  • "Tell us all your movements for the last few days, starting with General Putnam's fortification of the Brooklyn Heights works."

    Fiction book (1993)

  • Kiev, on the banks of the Dnieper River, began as a fortification in the sixth century A.D.

    Academic text (2000)

  • Attacking the Federals' fixed positions at Gettysburg had taught them the value of field fortification.

    Fiction book (1992)

  • The most important fortification in the area was Fort McHenry, which guarded access to the city's port.

    Blog text (31)

  • As part of a regional program of fortification under the emperor Justinian, Butrint's walls continued to be strengthened in the sixth century.

    Academic text (2006)

  • Thorp had been right: once the Yankees' field fortifications cracked, some of the dogged fight went out of them at last.

    Fiction book (1992)

  • The engineers designed a robust fortification around the city to repel potential enemy attacks.

Synonyms

bulwark
vsfortification
11 8.6

A strong wall built to protect a place like a city or ship

covers the science and practice of designing and maintaining many types of defenses
line of defense
vsfortification
  • US
1 3.3

A wall or barrier that protects against attack

plans and arranges groups of barriers and positions to resist attack
defensive structure
vsfortification
1 3.9

A building or wall built to protect a place from attack

focuses on the planning, design, and maintenance of military defenses

Antonyms

vulnerability
156 5.1

A state of being easily harmed physically or emotionally

weakness
133 1.4

Lack of physical or mental strength that makes someone less able to act

How Defensive

fortification
  • Specialized
2 8.1
bulwark
11 8.6
rampart
12 8.8
vallum
  • Specialized
9.9
wall
∞ 1.0
to fence
19 2.4
boundary
232 3.1

Surface Forms

fortification singular
fortifications plural

Morphology

fortification = fortify (transparent) = fort + ify + ation

The noun is derived from the verb 'fortify' by adding the nominalising suffix '-ation', keeping the meaning of making or providing defences.

Etymology

Fortification comes from the Latin parts fortis meaning 'strong' and facere meaning 'to make'. So the art of fortification is about planning and building ways to 'make' places strong against attack.