Roncesvalles

American

[ron-suh-valz, rawn-thes-vah-lyes] / ˈrɒn səˌvælz, ˌrɔn θɛsˈvɑ ljɛs /

noun

a village in N Spain, in the Pyrenees: defeat of part of Charlemagne's army and the death of Roland a.d.

Roncesvalles British

/ ˈrɒnsəˌvælz, rɔnθesˈβaʎes /

noun

French name: Roncevaux. a village in N Spain, in the Pyrenees: a nearby pass was the scene of the defeat of Charlemagne and death of Roland in 778

"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

Example Sentences

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Roncesvalles

Ahead of our return to the city, we drive back up the ridge, back through Burguete, the inn still shuttered, and up to Roncesvalles, where the old monastery looms like a sentinel over the pass.

From Salon ● Nov. 8, 2025

He treated the Senate to a long legendary account of Roland of Roncesvalles who "guarded the gate with drawn sword against all impostors."

From Time Magazine Archive

In this Franco-American production, how, ever, the liberation is celebrated as a military epic, the greatest victory of the Gallic spirit since Roland held the pass at Roncesvalles.

From Time Magazine Archive

We walked back down the road from Roncesvalles with Harris between us.

From "The Sun Also Rises" by Ernest Hemingway

There were two beds, a washstand, a clothes-chest, and a big, framed steel-engraving of Nuestra Señora de Roncesvalles.

From "The Sun Also Rises" by Ernest Hemingway

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023