fortn.1
/fɔːt/, U.S. /fɔrt/ 1.
a. Military. A fortified place; a position fortified for defensive or protective purposes, usually surrounded with a ditch, rampart, and parapet, and garrisoned with troops; a fortress.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > defence > defensive work(s) > fort or fortified town > [noun]
chestera855
boroughc893
fastnessOE
strength?c1225
warnestore1297
fortress13..
holdc1330
strongholdc1384
motec1390
fortalicec1425
garnisonc1430
garrisonc1430
town of war1441
wall-town1488
strengh1489
afforciament1509
piece1525
forcea1552
citadel1567
fort1569
place1575
holt1600
alcazar1623
fasthold1623
afforcement1642
castle-town1646
post1648
garrison-town1649
bridlea1661
palank1685
place of arms1704
ostrog1761
qila1761
presidio1763
gurry1786
thana1803
pa1823
castrum1836
lis1845
Gibraltar1856
training post1867
kasbah1902
jong1904
1569 R. Grafton Chron. II. 15 He..builded a forte, where as at thys day standeth newe Castell upon Tyne.
1592 G. Babington Certaine Comfortable Notes Genesis (vii.) f. 33v When..forts, trees, nor any tall towres can saue a man.
c1600 Diurnal of Remarkable Occurrents (1833) 52 The forthe of Aymouth [was] decernit to be cassin down.
1725 D. Defoe New Voy. round World ii. 112 Strong Forts erected..and strong Garrisons maintained in them.
1848 H. H. Wilson Hist. Brit. India 1805–35 III. v. 178 A detachment from the British force..drove the insurgents out of the fort.
1873 M. E. Braddon Lucius Davoren Prol. i To make his way back to a far distant fort in quest of provisions.
b. figurative. A strong position, stronghold. to hold the fort: to act as a temporary substitute; also, to remain at one's post, to maintain one's position, to ‘cope’.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > safety > protection or defence > [noun] > position or attitude of defence > a strong defensive position
fort1568
redoubt1626
the world > movement > absence of movement > [verb (intransitive)] > remain in one place > at one's post or position
to hold the fortc1870
society > authority > delegated authority > action or function of a delegate or deputy > act as delegate or deputy [verb (intransitive)] > temporarily
to sit in for1915
to hold the fort1936
1568 U. Fulwell Like wil to Like sig. D.iiii The fort of Vertue oh man assail.
1592 S. Daniel Complaint Rosamond in Wks. (1717) 40 Having but..weak feeble Hands To hold their Honours Fort unvanquished.
1605 F. Bacon Of Aduancem. Learning i. sig. G3v If there were sought in knowledge..a Fort or commaunding ground for strife. View more context for this quotation
1640 Bp. J. Hall Christian Moderation ii. 24 Such [parts of the body] as wherein the mayne fort of life doth not consist.
1708 Brit. Apollo 23–25 June They look upon this Passage in the Revelations as their strongest Fort.
c1870 P. P. Bliss Sacred Songs & Solos sung by Ira D. Sankey (1874) 3 ‘Hold the fort, for I am coming,’ Jesus signals still; Wave the answer back to heaven, ‘By Thy grace we will.’
1930 D. H. Lawrence Assorted Articles 163 Thirty-six years ago men..still believed in the fight for life and the fun of it. ‘Hold the fort, for I am coming.’
1936 E. S. Gardner Case of Sleepwalker's Niece x. 73 In the meantime I want to put in a telephone call. You hold the fort.
1941 A. L. Rowse Tudor Cornwall 341 Elizabeth and her archbishops..had held the fort until their church had come..to have an ethos of its own.
1960 J. Stroud Shorn Lamb viii. 107 I'm going out for an hour or so, can you hold the fort?
1962 J. Wain Strike Father Dead v. 243 I shan't need more than ten minutes, if you can hold the fort that long.
1966 Times 22 Sept. 11/5 Mr. George Brown's determination to hold the Foreign Office fort and to sally forth as little as possible.
c. In British North America and parts of the U.S.: A trading station (originally fortified).
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > trading place > a centre of commerce > [noun] > trading post
trading post1776
fort1784
outpost1802
post1835
1784 A. Smith Inq. Wealth of Nations (ed. 3) III. v. iii. 127 Their..settlements and habitations, which they [sc. the Hudson's Bay Company] have honoured with the name of forts.
2. The place of security (of a wild animal).
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > by habitat > habitat > [noun] > dwelling place or shelter > of a wild animal
cabin1377
closet1576
harbour1576
fort1653
cell1735
1653 T. Urquhart tr. F. Rabelais 2nd Bk. Wks. xxvi. 167 A..roe-buck, which was come out of his Fort.
1674 N. Cox Gentleman's Recreation i. 38 If a Boar intends to abide in his Den, Couch or Fort.
ΚΠ
1686 J. Goad Astro-meteorologica i. xii. 48 Unless the Semisextile on each side..be reduced to the ☌, and the Quincunx likewise to the Opposition, as their Matrices, their Forts and Principals; the Conjunction..will be found the most insignificant Aspect in the pack.
4. Strong part or point. Now written forte n.1
Compounds
C1. General attributive. Also fort-royal n.
a.
fort-breach adj.
ΚΠ
a1657 G. Daniel Trinarchodia: Henry V cxciii, in Poems (1878) IV. 149 As they..had found Some fort~breach.
b.
fort-crowned adj.
ΚΠ
1894 Daily News 26 Nov. 4/6 The fort-crowned heights.
C2.
fort-adjutant n. ‘an officer in a garrison who is responsible for its internal discipline, and the appropriation of the men to the several corps’.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > warrior > soldier > leader or commander > officer according to function > [noun] > subordinate garrison officers
fort-major1715
town adjutant1727
fort-adjutant1876
1876 G. E. Voyle Mil. Dict. (ed. 3) Fort-adjutant.
fort-major n. in a fort or fortress, the officer next to the governor or commandant.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > warrior > soldier > leader or commander > officer according to function > [noun] > subordinate garrison officers
fort-major1715
town adjutant1727
fort-adjutant1876
1715 London Gaz. No. 5300/5 Fort-Major of the said Town.
1844 Queen's Regulations & Orders Army 3 Officers employed as Town or Fort Majors.
Draft additions September 2022
An improvised structure, esp. one built to resemble a military fort, made by children and typically used as a play space; (sometimes) spec. an improvised hideout, made by draping blankets or sheets over items of furniture (cf. blanket fort n.).
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > entertainment > toy or plaything > other toys > [noun] > playhouse
playhouse1789
tree-house1867
Wendy house1949
1885 Field 19 Sept. 423/3 Small children..amuse themselves by erecting buildings of broken bricks... Jack [sc. a jackdaw] watches until the building is nearly completed, when..he swoops down... Having demolished the fort to his satisfaction, [he] darts out again.
1919 Quick March 1 Dec. 73 ‘Come on I'll beat y'all to the fort,’ shouts a ginger-headed boy... And what a fort it was!.. Hollowed out of the sandy bank by the creek.
1982 N.Y. Times (Nexis) 16 Mar. b2 Many pupils built forts in their homes out of blankets, card tables and ironing boards, where they holed up for the week doing puzzles, playing cards and the like.
2013 J. Griffiths Kith xvi. 298 Wanting their secret places, children make dens from the age of about six, building forts and constructing treehouses.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1897; most recently modified version published online December 2022).
fortn.2
(See quot. 1867.)
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > printing > miscellaneous printers' equipment > [noun] > oiled sheet for stencilling colour on cards
fort1867
1867 Fry Playing-Card Terms in Philol. Soc. Trans. 56 Fort, an oiled sheet, (usually large enough for twenty cards) formerly used in making the stencilling-plate for stencilling the colors of the court-cards or the pips of the other cards.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1897; most recently modified version published online March 2018).
† fortadj.
Obsolete.
Strong, powerful.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > power > [adjective]
mightyeOE
craftyeOE
richeOE
strongeOE
wieldeOE
mainstrongOE
mightOE
keena1000
mightfullOE
mainfulc1225
reighc1225
starkc1275
boldc1300
fort13..
mightandc1350
strengthya1382
mightifula1400
bigc1400
powerfulc1450
puissant?c1450
mananta1500
mighteousa1500
potenta1500
potential?c1500
vailing1508
forcible1555
potentate1556
swingeing1567
powerable1580
strong-handed1598
strengthful1604
hogen mogen1648
powerlike1657
pollent1660
hogana1672
swayful1767
reverend1826
oomphy1955
kick-ass1977
the world > life > the body > bodily constitution > bodily strength > [adjective]
mightyeOE
strongOE
bigc1300
boldc1300
fort13..
steer13..
steevec1300
valiant1303
stalwortha1340
fortin1340
strengthfula1382
stout1390
pithya1400
tora1400
mighteda1470
strengthyc1485
forcy1488
nervy1598
nervous1616
whipcordy1856
Tarzanesque1933
Tarzan-like1943
the world > action or operation > manner of action > vigour or energy > [adjective] > of action: involving or requiring vigour > vigorous or intense in operation
strongeOE
smartc1300
steevec1300
keen1340
piercinga1400
perceantc1400
forta1513
incisive1528
vigorous1548
forcible1555
emphatical1581
searching1590
nervous1616
strenuous1632
arrowy1650
intent1650
urging1658
sinewous1663
emphatic1689
drastic1808
needling1839
shrewd1842
gimlet1894
13.. K. Alis. 7710 Sampson theo fort, also, Daliada dude him wrong and wo.
14.. in F. J. Furnivall Polit., Relig., & Love Poems (1903) 238 Þou most fort wit wele or wo.
a1450 Knt. de la Tour (1868) 92 Dalide, that was wiff to Sampson forte.
a1450 (c1410) H. Lovelich Hist. Holy Grail xlii. l. 471 Which dwk was bothe Riche & fort.
a1513 R. Fabyan New Cronycles Eng. & Fraunce (1516) II. f. xlvv Iohn..after many fort assautes wanne the sayd Castell.
?1611 G. Chapman tr. Homer Iliads xvii. 112 Why should Fame make thee fort 'gainst our harmes.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1897; most recently modified version published online June 2021).
fortv.
/fɔːt/, U.S. /fɔrt/ ? Obsolete.absolute.1723 in G. Sheldon Hist. Deerfield, Mass. (1895) I. 396 These towns can't stand the strain upon them to watch and ward, scout and fort without pay.
transitive. To defend or protect with a fortification; to fortify; to enclose in a fort; also with in.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > defence > defensive work(s) > fortify [verb (transitive)]
fastenOE
enfirm1297
ofstrengthc1325
strengthc1325
warnc1330
ward1340
warnestorec1374
abattlec1380
embattlec1380
fortify1436
bulwark1450
strengthen1450
bastille1480
enstrength1483
rempare1525
munite1533
fence1535
force1535
ranforce1547
rampire1550
fort1559
ramforce1570
fortificate1575
refortify1579
ensconce1590
munify1596
sconce1598
renforce1602
harness1611
munish1633
tackle1645
schanze1901
1559 in Sir R. Sadler's Papers (1809) II. 185 The Frenches are to take summe other part of the countrey, and forte it.
a1572 J. Knox Hist. Reformation Scotl. in Wks. (1846) I. 406 To forte our tounis..and to lay sa strang garnisouns of straingearis thairin.
1747 in Westfield (Mass.) Jubilee (1870) 132 To Consider what measures to take about forting the Town.
1756 G. Washington Let. in Writings (1889) I. 360 While you remain..forted in, as if to defend yourselves were the sole end of your coming.
1757 G. Washington Let. in Writings (1889) I. 508 The few families that are forted on the Branch.
1834 D. Crockett Narr. Life vii. 52 The fort was built right in the middle of a large old field, and in it the people had been forted so long and so quietly, that they didn't apprehend any danger at all.
1838 Southern Literary Messenger 4 295 The settlers were sometimes forted.
1851 W. De Hass Hist. W. Virginia 315 Of those forted at Grave creek, was a William McIntosh, wife and child.
1853 B. Young in Jrnl. Discourses I. 165 Suppose we should say to all the wards in this city, the time has come to fort up.
1878 J. H. Beadle Western Wilds xii. 186 They lit on the Yorker and his friends and druv 'em back into Miller's Store, when they forted and held their own.
1905 G. E. Cole Early Oregon iv. 53 We started on and arriving at Grave creek, found the people ‘forted up’.
1948 E. N. Dick Dixie Frontier 267 Castleman warned the pioneers to ‘fort’.
Derivatives
ˈforted adj.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > defence > defensive work(s) > [adjective]
stithc1000
strongOE
fastenedOE
warneda1300
strengtheda1382
unpregnable1387
embattledc1400
enbanedc1400
warrayable14..
impregnable1430
inexpugnable1490
strengthy1513
bulwarkeda1533
unexpugnable1533
fortified1538
well-fortified1538
unwinnablec1540
forced1548
forted1566
unbatterable1576
fencible?1579
unforcible1611
impregnate1632
untakable1652
of (good) force1697
casemated1740
well-girt1756
embattled1765
strongish1821
unbreachable1866
1566 T. Nuce tr. Octavia i. iv, sig. C ij Through top of fortred [? read forted] towre.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Measure for Measure (1623) v. i. 12 It deserues..A forted residence 'gainst the tooth of time. View more context for this quotation
1807 J. Barlow Columbiad v. 201 They dare oppose Their fielded cohorts to the forted foes.
ˈforting n.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > defence > defensive work(s) > [noun] > construction of defensive works
strengthingc1384
warnestoringc1386
munition?c1500
fortification1562
defences1569
ensconcing1590
munifience1596
refortification1598
garrisoning1681
fortifying1719
forting1756
obstacling1882
1756 in G. Sheldon Hist. Deerfield, Mass. (1895) I. 647 Voted..to Consider..in what..manner to carry on ye forting.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1897; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
† fortprep.conj.
Obsolete.
A. prep.
a. Till, until; up to, as far as.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > relative time > the past > antecedence or being earlier > antecedence [preposition] > until
toc1000
fortc1200
tillc1330
hentc1426
pending1837
'til1939
c1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 33 Al mankin was wunende on muchele wowe..forte þat ilke time þat [etc.].
a1250 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Nero) (1952) 16 Aue maria uort dominus tecum.
1297 R. Gloucester's Chron. (1724) 463 Þe kyng..vorto Mydewynter ney byseged þe emperesse.
c1330 Arth. & Merl. 4796 That strengthe him last Fort arnemorwe.
a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1869) II. 25 Alle þe woke longe, forto Saturday at none.
b. In conjunctional phrase, fort that: until.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > intention > [preposition] > indicating purpose
toc893
afterOE
fortc1200
tilla1352
the world > time > relative time > the past > antecedence or being earlier > antecedence [conjunction] > until
forth thatc888
till1154
a thatc1175
fortc1200
fort thatc1200
all-whata1225
alfort?a1300
toa1300
hentc1426
c1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 51 Þe king of babilonie bilai þe burh ierusalem, forte þat hit [= he it] wan.
c1275 Laȝamon Brut 11518 Mauric verde vorþ riht..forte that he come to Maximian.
c1330 King of Tars 396 The mayden..al niht lay and wepe Forte that day gon dawe.
1362 W. Langland Piers Plowman A. vii. 2 A gyde, That mihte folwen us vch a fote forte that we come there.
c1450 Two Cookery-bks. 114 Wash hem [peson] clene in cold water, fort that ye holys go of.
B. conj.
Till, until.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > relative time > the past > antecedence or being earlier > antecedence [conjunction] > until
forth thatc888
till1154
a thatc1175
fortc1200
fort thatc1200
all-whata1225
alfort?a1300
toa1300
hentc1426
c1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 23 For to þe time cam þat he heregede helle.
c1275 Laȝamon Brut 7563 Alle dai was þat fiht forte hit were dorcke niþt.
c1330 (?c1300) Guy of Warwick (Auch.) l. 668 No grome louen y no may Fort he be kniȝt.
a1400 R. Glouc. Chron. (Rolls) 4920 + 22 Vorte [MS. a. wort] God yt wolde amende.
c1440 Marriage Serv. in Bk. Offices (MS. Hereford Cath. No. 45) Ich —— take the —— to my wedded wife..forte deth us departe.
c1450 Two Cookery-bks. ii. 114 Nym a pond of ris, seth hem fort hit berste.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1897; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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n.11568
n.21867adj.13..v.1559prep.conj.c1200- underinformed
- underingness
- underinstrument
- underinsurance
- underinsure
- underinsured
- underinsures
- underinsuring
- underivable
- underivative
- underived
- underivedly
- underivedness
- underjailer
- underjanitor
- underjaw
- underjawed
- underjaws
- underjobbing
- underjudge
- underkeel
- underkeep
- underkeeper
- underkill
- underkind