redoubt

noun

re·​doubt ri-ˈdau̇t 

1

a

: a small usually temporary enclosed defensive work

b

: a defended position : protective barrier

2

: a secure retreat : stronghold

Did you know?

Based on its spelling, you might think that redoubt shares its origin with words such as doubt and redoubtable, both of which come from the Latin verb dubitare, meaning "to be in doubt." But that's not the case. Redoubt actually comes to us (via the French word redoute and the Italian word ridotto) from a different Latin verb—reducere, meaning "to lead back," the same root that gives us reduce. How that b ended up in redoubt is a lingering question, but some etymologists have posited that the word might have been conflated with another redoubt—a now-archaic verb meaning "to regard with awe, dismay, or dread" which, unlike its twin, does indubitably come from dubitare.

Synonyms

• bastion
• castle
• citadel
• fastness
• fort
• fortification
• fortress
• hold
• stronghold

Examples of redoubt in a Sentence

The refugees gathered in a hilly redoubt several miles outside the city.

a massive stone redoubt at the entrance of the bay guarded the city

Recent Examples on the Web

Walls and towers made of stone and rammed earth rose from strategic ridge lines, making a formidable redoubt. —Byandrew Lawler, science.org, 23 Oct. 2024

The whereabouts of his own family was unknown, but thought to appear briefly in surveillance footage recovered earlier this year from an underground redoubt Israeli forces said was located beneath a cemetery. —Karl Vick, TIME, 18 Oct. 2024

On the left, the failure of cultural power to produce political change tends to lead to a doubling down on the cultural side, so that wholesome college campuses can seem the last redoubt of Red Guard attitudes, though not, to be sure, of Red Guard authority. —Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, 14 Oct. 2024

The rebels were on the verge of routing Hadi’s forces in Marib governorate: the last government redoubt in Yemen’s north and the site of major oil and gas facilities. —Stephen Pomper, Foreign Affairs, 2 Dec. 2022

Word History

Etymology

French redoute, from Italian ridotto, from Medieval Latin reductus secret place, from Latin, withdrawn, from past participle of reducere to lead back — more at reduce

First Known Use

circa 1608, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

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