bulwark

bulwark

English

WOTD – 19 May 2009

Etymology

From Middle English bulwerk, from Middle Dutch bolwerk, bolwerc and Middle Low German bolwerk, equivalent to bole (“tree trunk”) +‎ work. Cognate with German Bollwerk, Danish bolværk, Swedish bålverk, Dutch bolwerk. Doublet of boulevard (from French boulevard, from Dutch); cognate with Portuguese and Spanish baluarte and Italian baluardo.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈbʊl.wək/
• (US) enPR: bo͝ol'wərk, IPA^(key): /ˈbʊl.wɝk/

• Audio (US)

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Noun

bulwark (plural bulwarks)

1. A defensive wall or rampart.
   • c. 1587–1588, [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], part 1, 2nd edition, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, OCLC 932920499; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire; London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act III, scene iii:

     Let thouſands die, their ſlaughtered Carkaſſes
     Shal ſerue for walles and bulwarkes to the reſt:

2. A defense or safeguard.
   • 1765–1769, William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England, (please specify |book=I to IV), Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] Clarendon Press, OCLC 65350522:

     The royal navy of England hath ever been its greatest defence, […] the floating bulwark of the island.

3. A breakwater.
4. (nautical) The planking or plating along the sides of a nautical vessel above her gunwale that reduces the likelihood of seas washing over the gunwales and people being washed overboard.
   • 1851 November 14, Herman Melville, chapter 3, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, OCLC 57395299, page 11:

     Entering that gable-ended Spouter-Inn, you found yourself in a wide, low, straggling entry with old-fashioned wainscots, reminding one of the bulwarks of some condemned old craft.

5. (figurative) Any means of defence or security.

Translations

defensive wall or rampart

Arabic: حِصْن‎ (ar) m (ḥiṣn) Armenian: հողապատնեշ (hy) (hołapatneš), բաստիոն (hy) (bastion) Bulgarian: реду́т m (redút), бастио́н m (bastión) Catalan: baluard m Chinese: Mandarin: please add this translation if you can Czech: val (cs) m Danish: bolværk (da) n Dutch: bolwerk (nl) n Esperanto: remparo Estonian: kaitsevall Finnish: paaluvarustus (fi); suojamuuri, suojavalli French: rempart (fr) m German: Bollwerk (de) n Gothic: 𐍄𐌿𐌻𐌲𐌹𐌸𐌰 f (tulgiþa) Hungarian: bástya (hu) Icelandic: bolvirki n, bolverk n Ido: remparo (io) Italian: baluardo (it) m Japanese: 堡塁 (ja) (hourui) Khmer: កំពែង (km) (kɑmpɛɛng) Kurdish: Central Kurdish: سەنگەر‎ (ku) (senger) Latin: agger (la) m Maori: papatū, pākai Old Norse: bolvirki n Persian: بارو‎ (fa) (bâru) Polish: wał (pl) m, szaniec (pl) m Portuguese: baluarte (pt) m Russian: вал (ru) m (val), бастио́н (ru) m (bastión), реду́т (ru) m (redút) Scottish Gaelic: bàbhan m, mùr m Serbo-Croatian: grudobran (sh) m, branik (sh) m, bastion (sh) m, bedem (sh) Slovene: branik m Spanish: baluarte (es) m Swedish: bålverk (sv) n Ukrainian: вал (uk) m (val), бастіон (uk) m (bastion)

defense or safeguard

Arabic: please add this translation if you can Armenian: պատվար (hy) (patvar), պաշտպանություն (hy) (paštpanutʿyun) Bulgarian: опо́ра (bg) f (opóra), защи́та (bg) f (zaštíta) Catalan: baluard m Chinese: Mandarin: please add this translation if you can Czech: záštita (cs) f Danish: bolværk (da) n Dutch: verschansing (nl) f, schans (nl) m or f Finnish: suojamuuri German: Bollwerk (de) n Hungarian: védelem (hu) Japanese: 藩屛 (hanpei) Khmer: ការការពារ (km) (kaa kaa pie) Kurdish: Central Kurdish: سەنگەر‎ (ku) (senger) Latin: arx (la) f Macedonian: насип m (nasip) Persian: سنگر‎ (fa) (sangar) Portuguese: baluarte (pt) m Russian: опло́т (ru) m (oplót), защи́та (ru) f (zaščíta), опо́ра (ru) f (opóra) Spanish: baluarte (es) m Ukrainian: опора f (opora), оплот m (oplot), захист (uk) m (zaxyst)

breakwater — see breakwater

nautical: planking or plating along the sides of a nautical vessel above her gunwale

Bulgarian: фалшбо́рд m (falšbórd) Catalan: murada (ca) f, orla (ca) f Chinese: Mandarin: please add this translation if you can Czech: hrazení n Danish: please add this translation if you can Dutch: verschansing (nl) f Esperanto: pavezo Finnish: lisälaita, varalaita, varpe French: bastingage (fr), pavois (fr) m German: Schanzkleid (de) n Italian: impavesata (it) f Maori: rauawa Norman: boulevard m Portuguese: amurada (pt) f Russian: фальшбо́рт (ru) m (falʹšbórt) Serbo-Croatian: razma (sh) f Spanish: amurada (es) f Ukrainian: фальшборт m (falʹšbort)

Verb

bulwark (third-person singular simple present bulwarks, present participle bulwarking, simple past and past participle bulwarked)

1. (transitive) To fortify something with a wall or rampart.
2. (transitive) To provide protection of defense for something.