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, General Australian) IPA^(key): /ˈbʊl.wək/
• (US) enPR: bo͝ol'wərk, IPA^(key): /ˈbʊl.wɚk/

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

Noun

bulwark (plural bulwarks)

1. A defensive wall or rampart.
   • c. 1587–1588, [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; 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:

     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, 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.

   The party stalwarts constitute the bulwark that ensures the president's term of office.

   • 2024 December 12, Eric Cortellessa, “Donald Trump 2024 TIME Person of the Year”, in Time‎^[1]:

     Willing to upend the nation’s postwar role as a bulwark against authoritarianism, he promises to usher in a foreign policy rooted in “America First” transactionalism.

Translations

defensive wall or rampart

• Arabic: حِصْن (ar) m (ḥiṣn)
• Armenian: հողապատնեշ (hy) (hoġapatneš), 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), védfal (hu), védőfal (hu)
• Icelandic: bolvirki n, bolverk n
• Ido: remparo (io)
• Irish: bábhún m
• Italian: baluardo (it) m
• Japanese: 堡塁 (ja) (hourui)
• Khmer: កំពែង (km) (kɑmpɛɛng)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: سەنگەر (senger)

• Latin: agger (la) m
• Macedonian: бе́дем m (bédem), на́сип m (násip), бастио́н m (bastión)
• Maori: papatū, pākai
• Old Norse: bolvirki n
• Ottoman Turkish: قلعه دیواری (kalʼe duvarı) حصار (hisar)
• 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)
• Yiddish: וואַל m (val)

defense or safeguard

• Arabic: please add this translation if you can
• Armenian: պատվար (hy) (patvar), պաշտպանություն (hy) (paštpanutʻyun)
• 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
• French: bastion (fr) m, rempart (fr) m
• German: Bollwerk (de) n
• Hungarian: védelem (hu)
• Japanese: 藩屛 (hanpei)
• Khmer: ការការពារ (km) (kaa kaa pie)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: سەنگەر (senger)

• Latin: arx (la) f
• Macedonian: за́штита (mk) f (záštita), о́дбрана (mk) f (ódbrana)
• 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.