rampart

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French rempart (“a rampart of a fort”), from Old French remparer (“to defend, fortify, inclose with a rampart”), from re- (“again”) + emparer (“to defend, fortify, surround, seize, take possesion of”), from Old Occitan amparer, from Vulgar Latin *anteparō (“to prepare”), from Latin ante- + parō (“to prepare”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɹæm.pɑː(ɹ)t/

• Audio (US)

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Noun

rampart (plural ramparts)

1. 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.

   • Mound definition

     An artificial hill or elevation of earth; a raised bank; an embankment thrown up for defense (1 of 9 mound definitions)

   • Parapet definition

     A low protective wall. (1 of 3 parapet definitions)

   • Ridge definition

     The back of any animal; especially the upper or projecting part of the back of a quadruped. (1 of 9 ridge definitions)

   • Debris definition

     Rubble, wreckage, scattered remains of something destroyed. (1 of 4 debris definitions)

   • Embankment definition

     a long mound of earth, stone, or similar material, usually built for purposes such as to hold back or store water, for protection from weather or enemies, or to support a road or railway.
2. A defensive structure; a protective barrier; a bulwark.

   • Barrier definition

     A structure that bars passage. (1 of 7 barrier definitions)

   • Bulwark definition

     A defensive wall or rampart. (1 of 5 bulwark definitions)
3. That which defends against intrusion from outside; a protection.

   • Defend definition

     To ward off attacks against; to fight to protect; to guard. (1 of 9 defend definitions)

   • Intrusion definition

     The forcible inclusion or entry of an external group or individual; the act of intruding. (1 of 4 intrusion definitions)

   • Protection definition

     The process of keeping (something or someone) safe. (1 of 9 protection definitions)
4. (usually in the plural) A steep bank of a river or gorge.

   • Gorge definition

     The front aspect of the neck; the outside of the throat. (1 of 9 gorge definitions)

Translations

Verb

rampart (third-person singular simple present ramparts, present participle ramparting, simple past and past participle ramparted)

1. To defend with a rampart; fortify or surround with a rampart.
   • 1793, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Ode on the Departing Year

     Those grassy hills, those glittering dells, / Proudly ramparted with rocks.

   • Fortify definition

     To increase the defenses of; to strengthen and secure by military works; to render defensible against an attack by hostile forces. (1 of 4 fortify definitions)

   • Surround definition

     To encircle something or simultaneously extend in all directions. (1 of 3 surround definitions)

Derived terms

• ramparted

Related terms

• fraise

Translations

Further reading

• rampart in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• rampart in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• rampart at OneLook Dictionary Search.