citadel

[sit-uh-dl, -uh-del]

See more synonyms for citadel on Thesaurus.com

noun

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.

Origin of citadel

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

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for citadel

fortification, bastion, fortress, stronghold, manor, keep, castle, fastness, fort, blockhouse, redoubt

Examples from the Web for citadel

Contemporary Examples of citadel

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 President
Pierre 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.
Atlanta’s Fall Foretold The End Of Civil War Bloodshed
Marc Wortman
September 1, 2014
She seemed to know, to accept, to welcome her position, the citadel of the family, the strong place that could not be taken.
Is There a Ma Joad for the Piketty Era?
Katie Baker
July 1, 2014
Once this citadel is breached, the other walls can come tumbling down.
Praying While Packing Heat and Other Unwieldy American Traditions
Jack Schwartz
February 18, 2013
It turns out that Santorum has a deep connection to the Citadel.
The Real Appeal of Rick Santorum
Michael Tomasky
January 21, 2012

Historical Examples of citadel

We then would have pushed for Citadel Hill, which commanded Halifax.
Ned Myers
James Fenimore Cooper
The general knew all about that, because his son was stationed in the Citadel.
It Happened in Egypt
C. N. Williamson
It was this that stormed the citadel of my hope, and drove me from even thinking of a God.
Wilfrid Cumbermede
George MacDonald
In the citadel is also a mosque, now building by the order of the Pasha.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine - Volume 57, No. 352, February 1845
Various
Once it was by the Gauls, as we have read, who captured all the city except the citadel.
Introductory American History
Henry Eldridge Bourne

British Dictionary definitions for citadel

citadel

noun

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

Word Origin for citadel

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 Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for citadel

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).