rampart
Appearance
English
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Borrowed from Middle French rempart (“rampart of a fort”), from Old French remparer (“to defend, fortify, inclose with a rampart”), from re- (“again”) + emparer (“defend, fortify, surround, seize, take possesion of”), from Old Occitan amparer, from Vulgar Latin *anteparō (“to prepare”), from ante- + parō (“to prepare”).
Pronunciation
[edit]Noun
[edit]rampart (plural ramparts)
- A defensive mound of earth or a wall with a broad top and usually a stone parapet; a wall-like ridge of earth, stones or debris; an embankment for defensive purpose.
- 1980, AA Book of British Villages, Drive Publications Ltd, page 154, about Dorchester, Oxon:
- Between the southern end of the village, called Bridge End, and the River Thames runs a double row of ramparts and a ditch known as Dyke Hills.
- A defensive structure; a protective barrier; a bulwark.
- That which defends against intrusion from outside; a protection.
- (usually in the plural) A steep bank of a river or gorge.
Translations
[edit]defensive ridge of earth
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defensive structure; bulwark
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protection against intrusion
steep bank of a river or gorge
Verb
[edit]rampart (third-person singular simple present ramparts, present participle ramparting, simple past and past participle ramparted)
- To defend with a rampart; fortify or surround with a rampart.
- 1796, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Ode on the Departing Year[1] (pamphlet), Bristol, page 14:
- Those grassy Hills, those glitt’ring Dells
Proudly ramparted with rocks
Derived terms
[edit]Related terms
[edit]Translations
[edit]To defend with a rampart; fortify or surround with a rampart
Further reading
[edit]- “rampart”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- “rampart”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
- “rampart”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
Categories:
- English terms borrowed from Middle French
- English terms derived from Middle French
- English terms derived from Old French
- English terms derived from Old Occitan
- English terms derived from Vulgar Latin
- English terms derived from Latin
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio pronunciation
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- English terms with quotations
- English verbs