fortress

[fɔːtrɪs]

/[fɔːtrɪs]/ noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“fortress” is uncommon German (frequency #65,227 among 3,474 “F” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#65,227
frequency rank, German
3,474
“F” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - die Festung, Bollwerk, Feste (veraltet), Fort

Corpus desk

Index DE-fortress · fortress · German

fortress · rank #65,227 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #65,227
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,474
  • PHOTO-FINISH Forschergruppe

Nearest frequency peer: Forschergruppe (-1 rank slots)

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Langschwanz-Ränge nahe „fortress“

Dünnes Band: Balken invertieren den Rang, seltenere Formen wirken kürzer

corpus weight

What this shows Langschwanz-Sicht: wo „fortress“ gegen ähnlich seltene deutsche Ränge sitzt.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for fortress
PropertyValue
Headwordfortress
LanguageGerman
Part of speechNoun
IPA[fɔːtrɪs]
Letters8
Frequency rank#65,227
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Langschwanz-Rang von „fortress“ im Deutschen

Die Häufigkeit läuft von den wenigen Alltagswörtern (links) bis zur langen, seltenen Schwanzseite (rechts).fortressfällt in diesen Seltenheitsbereich:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Die Achse ist logarithmisch: jeder Tick markiert etwa zehnfach geringere Häufigkeit. Seltene Nachbarn derselben Bandbreite: „Forschergruppe“ (#65,226), „Frauenstimme“ (#65,228), „fonda“ (#65,225). Unter 3,474 „F“-Lemmata liegt „fortress“ bei #65,227. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

fortress is uncommon German at frequency #65,227 among 3,474 “F” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed [fɔːtrɪs]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "die Festung, Bollwerk, Feste (veraltet), Fort".

No misspelling variants are generated for fortress in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable German patterns. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.

No documented word history exists for this headword, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct German form is fortress, spelled F-O-R-T-R-E-S-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    die Festung, Bollwerk, Feste (veraltet), Fort

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how fortress appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. They attempted to capture the fortress.

Synonyms

fortfortification

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 German corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "fortress"?
"fortress" is spelled F-O-R-T-R-E-S-S. The IPA pronunciation is [fɔːtrɪs].
What does "fortress" mean?
As a noun, "fortress" means: die Festung, Bollwerk, Feste (veraltet), Fort
How do you pronounce "fortress"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "fortress" is [fɔːtrɪs]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "fortress" come from?
"fortress" is a German word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar German words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "fortress", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Ganzheit#65,244Filmteam#65,209fielding#65,205geflasht#65,256

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list