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.

---

citadel British  

/ ˈsɪtədəl, -ˌdɛl /

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

---

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

What could possibly be gained by shuttering a national citadel for creative excellence?

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 3, 2026

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

For 15 years, the former Communist official shaped the capital in his image, ordering it to be rebuilt as a marble citadel complete with a towering gold statue of himself.

From Barron's ● Jun. 23, 2026

A grand moon drifted, and the wings of the citadel cut the sky in two: light above, dark below.

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

In 1945, at 18, he turned up at the renowned University of Göttingen, one of the citadels of science.

From Washington Post ● Feb. 10, 2019

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

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---

Related Words

• bastion
• fortification
• fortress

---