citadel

American  

[sit-uh-dl, -uh-del] / ˈsɪt ə dl, -əˌdɛl /

noun

• citadels
  plural

1. a fortress that commands a city and is used in the control of the inhabitants and in defense during attack or siege.

2. any strongly fortified place; stronghold.

3. (formerly) a heavily armored structure on a warship, for protecting the engines, magazines, etc.

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citadel British  

/ -ˌdɛl, ˈsɪtədəl /

noun

1. a stronghold within or close to a city

2. any strongly fortified building or place of safety; refuge

3. a specially strengthened part of the hull of a warship

4. (often capital) the headquarters of the Salvation Army

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• citadels
  plural

Etymology

Origin of citadel

1580–90; < Middle French citadelle < Old Italian cittadella, equivalent to cittad ( e ) city + -ella -elle

Explanation

A citadel is a fortified structure designed to provide protection during a battle. So, back in the days when pillaging was commonplace, it was a good idea to know where your nearest citadel was. Among the most historically famous citadels are the Acropolis in Athens and the Tower of London. Even though we're building fewer physical fortresses these days, citadel remains a useful word, particularly when you need to create a metaphor suggesting strength and safety. As poet John Keats wrote, "[I]t appears to me that almost any man may like the spider spin from his own inwards his own airy citadel."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

citadel citadels

She is the princess, and this is the castle she’ll be locked in, an indomitable beast of a citadel fittingly titled the Tower Hotel.

From Salon ● Aug. 17, 2026

It is a literal citadel with a natural, crystal-blue moat surrounding it.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 15, 2026

Closer to the border, the citadel in the village of Shamaa was also partly destroyed by the Israeli military.

From Barron's ● Mar. 24, 2026

Peru is home to many of the Americas' most significant archaeological discoveries, including the Inca citadel of Machu Picchu in the Andes and the mysterious Nazca Lines etched into the desert along the central coast.

From BBC ● Jul. 6, 2025

It was strange to see his empty shell when his ghost had so recently been in the citadel.

From "Strange the Dreamer" by Laini Taylor

This evidence suggests that ritual specialists, perhaps priests, lived and performed religious functions in the citadels that may have required them to bathe in the large public bath and congregate in the hall.

From Textbooks ● Apr. 19, 2023

Lebanon has five other sites on UNESCO's World Heritage list, most of them citadels and ancient temples.

From Reuters ● Feb. 5, 2023

I think the retreat from the Lost Cause has also meant a kind of raising of new citadels around the idea of the nation.

From Slate ● Jun. 25, 2021

Ralph Peters, described cities of today as “the post-modern equivalent of jungles and mountains — citadels of the dispossessed and irreconcilable.”

From Washington Post ● Jun. 4, 2020

Now a few affluent evangelicals are directing their attention and money at some of the tallest citadels of the secular elite: Ivy League universities.

From "Class Matters" by The New York Times

Related Words

• bastion
• fortification
• fortress