Word of the Day

: April 6, 2024

redoubt

noun rih-DOUT

What It Means

Redoubt can refer specifically to a small building or area that provides soldiers with protection from attack, or more broadly to any safe or protected place, whether literal or figurative.

// A massive stone redoubt at the entrance of the bay guarded the city.

// The refugees gathered in a hilly redoubt several miles from the outskirts of town.

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redoubt in Context

"Pittsburgh has spent decades building itself as a world mecca for robotics technology and applications. The key to Pittsburgh's development into a robotics center has been the presence of Carnegie-Mellon University, a historic redoubt of technology that continues to evolve successfully; among its current distinctives is that it offers the nation's No. 1 graduate-degree program in artificial intelligence, according to [Joel] Reed [president of the Pittsburgh Robotics Network]." — Dale Buss, Forbes 28 Apr. 2023

Did You Know?

Based on its spelling, you might think that redoubt shares its origin with words such as doubt and redoubtable, both of which come from the Latin verb dubitare, meaning "to be in doubt." But that's not the case. Redoubt actually comes to us (via the French word redoute and the Italian word ridotto) from a different Latin verb—reducere, meaning "to lead back," the same root that gives us reduce. How that b ended up in redoubt is a lingering question, but some etymologists have posited that the word might have been conflated with another redoubt—a now-archaic verb meaning "to regard with awe, dismay, or dread" which, unlike its twin, does indubitably come from dubitare.