circumvallationn.
/ˌsəːkəmvaˈleɪʃən/ 1.
a. The making of a rampart or entrenchment round a place, esp. in besieging.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > defence > defensive work(s) > earthwork or rampart > [noun] > construction of
circumvallation1655
1655 H. L'Estrange Reign King Charles 69 The Duke fals to circumvallation and entrenchment, rearing many batteries.
1772 J. Priestley Inst. Relig. (1782) I. 442 The circumvallation of Jerusalem.
1836 C. Thirlwall Hist. Greece III. xix. 104 He set about completing the circumvallation, and the place was soon closely blockaded.
b. line of circumvallation: a line of earth-works consisting of a rampart and trench surrounding a besieged place or the camp of a besieging army. So wall of circumvallation, etc.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > defence > defensive work(s) > earthwork or rampart > [noun] > line of rampart and trench
line of circumvallationc1660
c1660 J. Evelyn Diary anno 1641 (1955) II. 36 At night we rod about the lines of Circumvallation.
1662 B. Gerbier Brief Disc. Princ. Building 12 The Walls of Circumvallation of that Pallace, being four and twenty foote thick.
1772 J. Adams tr. A. de Ulloa Voy. S. Amer. (ed. 3) I. vi. xi. 473 The outward moat of circumvallation was above a league in extent.
1876 G. Bancroft Hist. U.S. (rev. ed.) IV. xxxviii. 605 The line of circumvallation was already closed.
c. transferred and figurative.
ΚΠ
1649 Bp. J. Taylor Great Exemplar iii. xv. xix A circumvallation of the holy mysteries.
2.
a. concrete. A rampart or entrenchment constructed round any place by way of investment or defence.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > defence > defensive work(s) > earthwork or rampart > [noun]
wallc900
banka1387
aggera1398
trench1445
braye1512
mantle-walla1522
werewalla1525
rampire1548
rampart1550
mound1558
mount1558
argin1589
vallie1602
earthwork1633
circumvallation1645
vallation1664
subtrench1669
epaulement1687
enceinte1708
ring1780
vallum1803
main-work1833
1645 J. Howell Epistolæ Ho-elianæ iv. iii. 4 The huge circuit of Spinola's Works, for his circumvallations are cry'd up to be neer upon twenty miles.
1677 R. Plot Nat. Hist. Oxford-shire 334 There is..a small Circumvallation in a Wood South and by West of Harpsden Church.
1845 G. Petrie Eccl. Archit. Ireland 445 The circumvallations, or circular enclosures, which usually encompassed the group of buildings.
b. transferred and figurative.
ΚΠ
1775 R. B. Sheridan St. Patrick's Day i. i The London Ladies..are so defended, such a circumvallation of hoop, with a breastwork of whalebone, etc.
1807 A. M. Porter Hungarian Brothers II. v. 126 We may have so many circumvallations of ceremony, to pierce through.
1859 J. E. Tennent Ceylon II. vii. v. 194 Surrounded by a double circumvallation of mountains.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1889; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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