citadel
English edit
Etymology edit
From French citadelle, from Italian cittadella, diminutive of città (“city”), from Latin cīvitās.
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
citadel (plural citadels)
- A strong fortress that sits high above a city.
- 1906, Lord Dunsany [i.e., Edward Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany], Time and the Gods[1], London: William Heineman, →OCLC, page 1:
- In the city’s midst the gleaming marble of a thousand steps climbed to the citadel where arose four pinnacles beckoning to heaven, and midmost between the pinnacles there stood the dome, vast, as the gods had dreamed it.
- (sometimes figurative) A stronghold or fortified place.
- 1836, Alexander Slidell Mackenzie, The American in England, page 269:
- Intrenched within the citadel of our apartment, and cheered by the comfortings of a coal fire, we passed the day in letter-writing, conversation, or gazing from the sheltered security of our windows upon the agitated sea […]
- An armoured portion of a warship, housing important equipment.
- 2000, Lincoln P. Paine, Warships of the World to 1900:
- Twenty-two of these — eleven per broadside — were on the main deck within a central citadel, essentially an armor-protected box in the middle of the ship. Also within the citadel were four 110-pdr. breech-loaders.
- A Salvation Army meeting place.
Synonyms edit
Translations edit
a strong fortress that sits high above a city
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a stronghold or fortified place
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Anagrams edit
Dutch edit
Etymology edit
Borrowe from Middle French citadelle, from Italian cittadella, diminutive of città (“city”), from Latin cīvitās.
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
citadel f (plural citadellen or citadels, diminutive citadelletje n)