redoubt

¹

[ ri-dout ]

noun

1. Fortification.
   1. an isolated work forming a complete enclosure of any form, used to defend a prominent point.
   2. an independent earthwork built within a permanent fortification to reinforce it.
2. any safe and secure place or situation; refuge; stronghold:

   Lebanon has represented one of the last redoubts of Christianity in the Middle East.

Redoubt

²

[ ri-dout, ree-dout ]

noun

1. Mount, an active volcano in S Alaska, on the Alaska Peninsula: highest peak in the Aleutian Range. 10,197 feet (3,108 meters).

redoubt

/ rɪˈdaʊt /

noun

1. an outwork or detached fieldwork defending a pass, hilltop, etc
2. a temporary defence work built inside a fortification as a last defensive position

Word History and Origins

Origin of redoubt¹

First recorded in 1600–10; from French redoute, from Italian ridotto, from Late Latin reductus “a refuge,” noun use of past participle of Latin redūcere “to lead back”; reduce

Word History and Origins

Origin of redoubt¹

C17: via French from obsolete Italian ridotta , from Medieval Latin reductus shelter, from Latin redūcere to withdraw, from re- + dūcere to lead

Example Sentences

Geneviève de Galard became a celebrated figure exactly 70 years ago when she was the only woman nurse tending French casualties inside the doomed redoubt of Dien Bien Phu in northern Vietnam.

From BBC

The drills also included a component to the east of Taiwan - the island's rugged east coast on the other side of a mountain range has long been its military redoubt.

From BBC

He could continue to sleep in the birch, where, if not completely protected, he had the advantage of a high redoubt, the upper hand in case of a conflict.

From Literature

National-security warnings that Ukraine will fall without U.S. aid would take on heightened urgency if Johnson started to see Ukraine as an evangelical redoubt and potential wellspring of missionary action in a godless Europe.

From Salon

At the installation — a cliff-side redoubt overlooking vast deforested areas and topped with a gigantic transmitter — Wenjie quickly learns the truth.

From New York Times

Related Words

• barrier
• citadel
• garrison
• rampart