Standard Lemma guide

fortress

noun · verb · 4 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • General-American: /ˈfoɹ.tɹɪs/
  • General-American: /ˈfoɹ.tɹəs/
  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈfɔː.tɹəs/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • /ˈfɔ(ː)ɹ.tɹəs/ without the horse–hoarse merger, rhotic
  • CMU ARPABET: F AO1 R T R AH0 S Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

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.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A position that, if obtained by the weaker side, will prevent penetration by the opposing side, generally achieving a draw.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: board-games, chess, games

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

verb

Meaning 3

To furnish with a fortress or with fortresses; to guard, to fortify.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: transitive

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

a fortified defensive structure

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: fort

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: defensive structure, defense, defence

Narrower terms: alcazar, martello tower, presidio, sconce, Alhambra, Bastille, Tower of London, Machu Picchu

History

Etymology

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.

Across languages

Translations

156 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Ainu: チャシ (chashi) — fortified place
  • Albanian: kala — fortified place
  • Albanian: fortesë — fortified place
  • Southern Altai: коргон (korgon) — fortified place
  • Arabic: قَلْعَة (qalʕa) — fortified place
  • Arabic: حِصْن (ḥiṣn) — fortified place
  • Arabic: قلعة (qalʕa) — fortified place
  • Armenian: ամրոց (amrocʻ) — fortified place
  • Armenian: բերդ (berd) — fortified place
  • Aromanian: tsitati — fortified place
  • Aromanian: grãditã — fortified place
  • Azerbaijani: qala — fortified place
  • Basque: gotorleku — fortified place
  • Belarusian: крэ́пасць (krépascʹ) — fortified place
  • Belarusian: фартэ́цыя (fartécyja) — fortified place
  • Belarusian: цвердзь (cvjerdzʹ) — fortified place
  • Belarusian: фартэ́ца (fartéca) — fortified place
  • Bengali: দুর্গ (durgo) — fortified place
  • Bengali: কেল্লা (kella) — fortified place
  • Bengali: কোট (kōṭ) — fortified place
  • Bulgarian: кре́пост (krépost) — fortified place
  • Burmese: ခံမြို့ (hkammrui.) — fortified place
  • Burmese: ခံတပ် (hkamtap) — fortified place
  • Catalan: fortalesa — fortified place
  • Chinese Mandarin: 要塞 (yàosài) — fortified place
  • Chinese Mandarin: 城堡 (chéngbǎo) — fortified place
  • Chinese Mandarin: 堡壘 /堡垒 (bǎolěi) — fortified place
  • Czech: pevnost — fortified place
  • Danish: fæstning — fortified place
  • Dutch: vesting — fortified place
  • Dutch: fort — fortified place
  • Dzongkha: རྫོང (rdzong) — fortified place
  • Erzya: кемечикудо (kemečikudo) — fortified place
  • Esperanto: fortreso — fortified place
  • Esperanto: fortiko — fortified place
  • Estonian: kindlus — fortified place
  • Finnish: linnoitus — fortified place
  • French: forteresse — fortified place
  • Galician: forte — fortified place
  • Galician: fortaleza — fortified place
  • Georgian: ციხესიმაგრე (cixesimagre) — fortified place
  • German: Festung — fortified place
  • Gothic: 𐌱𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌲𐍃 (baurgs) — fortified place
  • Greek: φρούριο (froúrio) — fortified place
  • Ancient Greek: φρούριον (phroúrion) — fortified place
  • Ancient Greek: ὀχύρωμα (okhúrōma) — fortified place
  • Hebrew: מִבְצָר (mivtsár) — fortified place
  • Hebrew: מִשְׂגָּב (misgáv) — fortified place
  • Hebrew: מְצוּדָה (m'tzudá) — fortified place
  • Hindi: गढ़ी (gaṛhī) — fortified place
  • Hindi: क़िला (qilā) — fortified place
  • Hindi: दुर्ग (durg) — fortified place
  • Hungarian: vár — fortified place
  • Hungarian: erőd — fortified place
  • Hungarian: erődítmény — fortified place
  • Icelandic: virki — fortified place
  • Ido: fortreso — fortified place
  • Ingrian: kreeposti — fortified place
  • Irish: dún — fortified place
  • Italian: fortezza — fortified place
  • Italian: rocca — fortified place
  • Japanese: 要塞 (yōsai) — fortified place
  • Japanese: 城塞 (jōsai) — fortified place
  • Kalmyk: шивә (şivä) — fortified place
  • Karakalpak: qorg'an — fortified place
  • Kazakh: бекініс (bekınıs) — fortified place
  • Kazakh: қамал (qamal) — fortified place
  • Khmer: បន្ទាយ (bɑɑbɑntiəy) — fortified place
  • Korean: 요새 (yosae) — fortified place
  • Korean: 성새 (seongsae) — fortified place
  • Central Kurdish: قەڵا (qella) — fortified place
  • Northern Kurdish: birc — fortified place
  • Northern Kurdish: kelhe — fortified place
  • Kyrgyz: сепил (sepil) — fortified place
  • Kyrgyz: коргон (korgon) — fortified place
  • Lao: ປ້ອມ (pǭm) — fortified place
  • Lao: ບຸລະ (bu la) — fortified place
  • Latin: castrum — fortified place
  • Latin: castellum — fortified place
  • Latin: arx — fortified place
  • Latvian: cietoksnis — fortified place
  • Lithuanian: tvirtovė — fortified place
  • Macedonian: твр́дина (tvŕdina) — fortified place
  • Macedonian: ка́ле (kále) — fortified place
  • Macedonian: кре́пост (krépost) — fortified place
  • Malay: kubu — fortified place
  • Malay: benteng — fortified place
  • Maranao: ilian — fortified place
  • Mongolian: цайз (cajz) — fortified place
  • Mongolian: хэрэм (xerem) — fortified place
  • Classical Nahuatl: yāōcalli — fortified place
  • Norman: fortéresse — fortified place
  • Norwegian Bokmål: festning — fortified place
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: festning — fortified place
  • Occitan: fortalesa — fortified place
  • Old English: fæsten — fortified place
  • Pashto: قلعه (qal'á) — fortified place
  • Dari: دِژ (diž) — fortified place
  • Dari: قَلْعَه (qal'a) — fortified place
  • Iranian Persian: دِژ (dež) — fortified place
  • Iranian Persian: قَلْعِه (ġal'e) — fortified place
  • Polish: forteca — fortified place
  • Polish: twierdza — fortified place
  • Polish: warownia — fortified place
  • Portuguese: fortaleza — fortified place
  • Potawatomi: wakaigin — fortified place
  • Quechua: pukara — fortified place
  • Romanian: cetate — fortified place
  • Romanian: fortăreață — fortified place
  • Russian: кре́пость (krépostʹ) — fortified place
  • Sanskrit: पुरा (purā) — fortified place
  • Sanskrit: दुर्ग (durga) — fortified place
  • Sanskrit: पुरी (purī) — fortified place
  • Scots: fortress — fortified place
  • Scottish Gaelic: dùn — fortified place
  • Serbo-Croatian: твр̀ђава — fortified place
  • Serbo-Croatian: у̏тврда — fortified place
  • Serbo-Croatian: тврђа — fortified place
  • Serbo-Croatian: tvr̀đava — fortified place
  • Serbo-Croatian: ȕtvrda — fortified place
  • Serbo-Croatian: tvȑđa — fortified place
  • Shona: svingo — fortified place
  • Slovak: pevnosť — fortified place
  • Slovak: tvrdza — fortified place
  • Slovene: utrdba — fortified place
  • Lower Sorbian: grod — fortified place
  • Spanish: fortaleza — fortified place
  • Swedish: fästning — fortified place
  • Tajik: қалъа (qal'a) — fortified place
  • Tajik: диж (diž) — fortified place
  • Tamil: கோட்டை (kōṭṭai) — fortified place
  • Tashelhit: ⵜⴰⴳⴰⴷⵉⵔⵜ (tagadirt) — fortified place
  • Tatar: кальга (qälğa) — fortified place
  • Thai: ป้อม (bpɔ̂m) — fortified place
  • Thai: ปราการ (bpraa-gaan) — fortified place
  • Turkish: kale — fortified place
  • Turkish: hisar — fortified place
  • Ottoman Turkish: حصار (hisar) — fortified place
  • Ottoman Turkish: حصن (hısn) — fortified place
  • Ottoman Turkish: قلعه (kalʼe) — fortified place
  • Ottoman Turkish: كرمان (kerman, kirman) — fortified place
  • Ottoman Turkish: قسطل (kastel) — fortified place
  • Turkmen: gala — fortified place
  • Ukrainian: форте́ця (fortécja) — fortified place
  • Ukrainian: крі́пость (krípostʹ) — fortified place
  • Ukrainian: тверди́ня (tverdýnja) — fortified place
  • Urdu: قِلْعَہ (qil'a) — fortified place
  • Urdu: قَلْعَہ (qal'a) — fortified place
  • Uyghur: قەلئە (qel'e) — fortified place
  • Uzbek: qalʻa — fortified place
  • Vietnamese: pháo đài — fortified place
  • Welsh: caer — fortified place
  • Yiddish: פֿעסטונג (festung) — fortified place
  • Zhuang: yausai — fortified place
  • German: Festung — chess technique
  • Russian: крепость (krepostʹ) — chess technique
Real reading context

fortress in complete knowledge articles