Fortify Meaning

/ˈfɔːtɪfaɪ/
B2

Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.

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verbTo give power, strength, or vigour to (oneself or someone, or to something); to strengthen.

verbTo support (one's or someone's opinion, statement, etc.) by producing evidence, etc.; to confirm, to corroborate.

Fadil and Dania were ready to do anything to fortify their relationship.
We must fortify the settlement before someone tries to attack it.
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
CEFR Practice Quiz
The troops decided to ____ the walls with extra sandbags before the attack.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The chef decided to ____ the soup with extra vegetables to make it more nutritious and flavorful.

From Late Middle English fortifien, fortfien (“to strengthen (a castle, etc.) from attack; to strengthen (an army, etc.); to strengthen (a person), aid, support; to reinforce, support; to improve; to increase the efficacy of”), from Old French fortifier (modern French fortifier), from Late Latin fortificāre (“to strengthen, fortify”), from Latin fortis (“powerful, strong”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰerǵʰ- (“to ascend, rise up; to be elevated or up high”) or *dʰerǵʰ- (“to be firm; robust, strong”)) + -ficō (suffix forming causative or factitive, or other verbs).

"[I]t [“oleum de costo”] fortifyeth yͤ ſtomack and Lyuer, it keepeth the hayre from fallyng of, & the head from horeneſſe [hoaryness], it cauſeth good colour, and ſauour in all the body." — 1562, William Bullein, “The Booke of Compoundes”, in Bulleins Bulwarke of Defence against All Sicknesse, Soarenesse, and Woundes that Doo Dayly Assaulte Mankinde: […], London: […] Thomas Marshe, […], published 1579, →OCLC, folio 15, verso:
"[…] I preſum'd it vvill not be unvvelcome to Your Lordſhip, if I here fortifie the Speculations that have been or may be propos'd to explicate theſe things according to the Hypotheſis of the vveight of the Air, by vvhat vve tried to that purpoſe, among others, vvhen vve vvere making uſe of a Syringe in our Engine." — 1669, Robert Boyle, “Experiment XXXII. Shewing, that when the Pressure of the External Air is Taken off, tis Very Easie to Draw up the Sucker of a Syringe, though the Hole, at which the Air or Water should Succeed, be Stopp’d.”, in A Continuation of New Experiments Physico-Mechanical, Touching the Spring and Weight of the Air, and Their Effects. The I. Part. […], Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] Henry Hall, printer to the University, for Richard Davis, →OCLC, page 107:
"[T]hey admitted three thouſand into a ſhare of the Government; and thus fortified, became the cruelleſt Tyranny upon Record." — 1701, [Jonathan Swift], “Chapter I”, in A Discourse of the Contests and Dissensions between the Nobles and the Commons in Athens and Rome, with the Consequences They Had upon Both Those States, London: […] John Nutt […], →OCLC, page 8:
"Nor must we here omit that great variety of arms with which Nature has differently fortified the bodies of several kinds of animals; such as claws, hoofs, horns, teeth, and tusks, a tail, a sting, a trunk, or a proboscis." — 1711 July 29 (Gregorian calendar), [Joseph Addison], “WEDNESDAY, July 19, 1711”, in The Spectator, number 121; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a New Edition, […], volume II, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton & Company, 1853, →OCLC, page 144:
"In the day I called, Thou [God] answeredst me; / Thou fortifiedst me with strength in my soul." — 1863, “Psalm CXXXVIII [Verse 3]”, in W[illiam] Kay, transl., The Psalms, Translated from the Hebrew, […], Calcutta, West Bengal: R. C. Lepage and Co., →OCLC, page 304:

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CEFR Practice Quiz
The troops decided to ____ the walls with extra sandbags before the attack.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The chef decided to ____ the soup with extra vegetables to make it more nutritious and flavorful.

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