Stronghold

How to spell stronghold

10 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce stronghold

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does stronghold mean?

1. nounA fortified place built to resist attack or serve as a secure refuge.
2. nounA region, group, or field in which a particular cause, party, or quality is firmly established.

Stronghold in a sentence

• The rebels retreated to a mountain stronghold that had never been taken.

• The northern city remains a stronghold of the opposition party.

• The castle served as the king's stronghold during the long siege.

• That university is a stronghold of traditional engineering research.

Where does stronghold come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

Stronghold is a native English compound, formed from two Old English elements: strang, meaning 'firm, mighty, or powerful', and a noun use of 'hold' that meant a place that could be held against attack, a fortress or refuge. The noun 'hold' grew out of the verb healdan, 'to keep, guard, or retain', so a hold was literally something you held onto and defended. By the late medieval period the two words had fused into 'stronghold' to name a fortified place that resisted capture. Over time the literal castle sense broadened into the figurative one we use today, an area or group where a cause, party, or belief remains firmly entrenched. Because both halves are plain Germanic words you already know, the spelling is regular: simply 'strong' followed by 'hold', with no hidden letters.

How the word is built

• strong (Old English strang: firm, powerful)
• hold (Old English geheald: a fortified place, a keeping)