different between fortification vs demilune

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French fortification, from Late Latin fortificatio, fortificationem, from fortifico, from Latin fortis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?f??(?)t?f??ke???n/, /?f??(?)t?f??ke???n/
• Rhymes: -e???n

Noun

fortification (countable and uncountable, plural fortifications)

1. The act of fortifying; the art or science of fortifying places to strengthen defence against an enemy.
2. That which fortifies; especially, a work or works erected to defend a place against attack; a fortified place; a fortress; a fort; a castle.
   • “[…] We are engaged in a great work, a treatise on our river fortifications, perhaps? But since when did army officers afford the luxury of amanuenses in this simple republic? […] ”

3. An increase in effectiveness, as by adding ingredients.
   • 1979, Kiplinger's Personal Finance (volume 33, number 7, July 1979, page 47)

     Compare the nutrition information label of a regular ready-to-eat fortified cereal with that of a presweetened brand and you'll note that, although the sweetened one's sugar content is higher, the fortification is virtually identical.

4. A jagged pattern sometimes seen during an attack of migraine.

Derived terms

• biofortification

Related terms

• fortify

Translations

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Late Latin fortificatio, fortificationem, from fortifico, from Latin fortis.

Pronunciation

Noun

fortification f (plural fortifications)

1. fortification (all meanings)

Related terms

• fortifier

Further reading

• “fortification” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

English

Etymology

Borrowed from French demi-lune.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?d?m?lu?n/

Adjective

demilune (not comparable)

1. (of furniture) In the shape of a half-moon, i.e. semicircular.

Noun

demilune (plural demilunes)

1. A fortification constructed beyond the main ditch of a fortress, and in front of the curtain between two bastions, intended to defend the curtain; a ravelin.
2. (biology) A crescentic mass of granular protoplasm present in the salivary glands.

French

Noun

demilune f (plural demilunes)

1. Alternative form of demi-lune