What is the difference between a fort and a fortress?

Question

Is it possible by looking to tell a fort from a fortress?

Answer 1

Fort: is from Latin Fortis meaning 'strong.

It is a bulding ( / buildings) built in order to defend an area

against attack.

Fortress is from Old French Fortresse / fotrlesse meaning, 'a

Strong Place'

Fortress is a Building OR PLACE that has been made

Stronger & Protected against attack.

Only a subtle difference. People use them interchangeably.

Sometimes the fort becomes a part of a large Portress.

Source: Advanced Learner's Dictionary

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Answer 2

My dictionary says that a fort is only occupied by soldiers and may be a temporarily reinforced place, but a fortress is a large and permanent fortification that may include a town. So I guess that a fortress is bigger and more permanently built. However, they are both pretty general terms nowadays, and I think most people use them interchangeably.

The word fort is used by the U.S, Army to designate many huge and very permanent installations, like Fort Belvoir, Fort Knox, Fort A.P. Hill, etc. Most of these don't have any real fortifications. They are inhabited by soldiers, but have many civilian workers who commute from nearby towns.

On the other hand many small castles are called fortresses. So there is a lot of overlap in the modern usage. In the days before airplanes, when walls were more important to defending a place, the distinction was probably more sharply defined.

Answer 3

A fort would be smaller than a fortress and less well defended. The ancient Romans used forts as marching camps - quickly dug by the legionaries in the form of a square enclosed by a ditch and bank. A fortress would be more permanent. Having said that, probably the best defended place in America is Fort Knox. In historical terms, though, a fortress would be more like a stone built castle.Hope this helps.

Answer 4

A fort does not have to have extensive protective devices. A fortress does. A fort can be just an ordinary building, housing some sort of military personnel. A fortress, would have many defensive portals, probably with weapons and other means of protection. A fortress would be much harder to penetrate than a fort.

Answer 5

Define Fortress

Answer 6

Here are the dictionary definitions, there are little to no differences between the words and are used interchangeably in the modern sense.

fort –noun
1. a strong or fortified place occupied by troops and usually surrounded by walls, ditches, and other defensive works; a fortress; fortification.
2. any permanent army post.
3. (formerly) a trading post.
—Idiom:
a. hold the fort, a. to defend one's position against attack or criticism.
b. to maintain the existing state of affairs.

fortress –noun
1. a large fortified place; a fort or group of forts, often including a town; citadel.
2. any place of exceptional security; stronghold.

Answer 7

A fort is a place surrounded with defenses and occupied by soldiers. A fortress is a large permanent fortification.

Answer 8

Fort is male and Fortress is female.

Answer 9

What Is A Fortress

Answer 10

Yes, forts wear blue and fortresses wear pink.