# fort

Pronunciation: US say "FORT" /fɔɹt/; UK say "FAWT" /fɔːt/

## Noun

1. A strong building or group of buildings where soldiers are stationed for defense, or a permanent army base.
   - Simple: A strong building where soldiers live and defend an area, or an army base.
   - _Troops withdrew to the fort as the enemy army crossed the border._
   - _Cannons on the fort's walls guarded the narrow entrance to the bay._
2. A makeshift structure put together from furniture, bedding and the like, used for playing games.
   - Simple: Something kids build from chairs, blankets and pillows to play games in.
   - _The kids spent the rainy afternoon in a fort of blankets draped over the dining table._
   - _Pillow forts covered half the living room by the end of the sleepover._
3. Historically, an outlying trading post, of the kind once found across British North America.
   - Simple: In the past, a trading post far from towns, like those in British North America.
   - _Each spring, Cree hunters brought their furs downriver to the fort to trade for guns and cloth._
   - _The chief trader ran the fort with a dozen clerks and boatmen through the long northern winter._

## Verb

4. To build a fort or other fortifications, such as a strong point or a redoubt.
   - Simple: To build a fort or other strong place to defend.

## Origin

English fort was taken from Middle French fort, meaning "strong," and was used in Middle English in the same form. Its use as an adjective goes back to Old French. Fortis and forte are doublets of fort.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/fort (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).