citadel
[sit-uh-dl, -uh-del]
- a fortress that commands a city and is used in the control of the inhabitants and in defense during attack or siege.
- any strongly fortified place; stronghold.
- (formerly) a heavily armored structure on a warship, for protecting the engines, magazines, etc.
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Origin of citadel
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for citadel
Contemporary Examples
He hits bottom at Rocamadour, a sanctuary in the Dordogne known as a citadel of faith devoted to Mary.
Houellebecq’s Incendiary Novel Imagines France With a Muslim PresidentPierre Assouline
January 9, 2015
They severed the last railroad lifeline into Atlanta, making the Citadel of the Confederacy as it was touted no longer tenable.
She seemed to know, to accept, to welcome her position, the citadel of the family, the strong place that could not be taken.
Once this citadel is breached, the other walls can come tumbling down.
It turns out that Santorum has a deep connection to the Citadel.
Historical Examples
We then would have pushed for Citadel Hill, which commanded Halifax.
Ned MyersJames Fenimore Cooper
The general knew all about that, because his son was stationed in the Citadel.
It Happened in EgyptC. N. Williamson
It was this that stormed the citadel of my hope, and drove me from even thinking of a God.
Wilfrid CumbermedeGeorge MacDonald
In the citadel is also a mosque, now building by the order of the Pasha.
Once it was by the Gauls, as we have read, who captured all the city except the citadel.
Introductory American HistoryHenry Eldridge Bourne
citadel
- a stronghold within or close to a city
- any strongly fortified building or place of safety; refuge
- a specially strengthened part of the hull of a warship
- (often capital) the headquarters of the Salvation Army
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Word Origin
C16: from Old French citadelle, from Old Italian cittadella a little city, from cittade city, from Latin cīvitās
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for citadel
n.
1580s, "fortress commanding a city," from Middle French citadelle (15c.), from Italian cittadella, diminutive of Old Italian cittade "city" (Modern Italian citta), from Latin civitatem (nominative civitas; also source of Portuguese citadella, Spanish ciuadela; see city).
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper