embattledadj.1
/ɛmˈbat(ə)ld/ 1.
a. Drawn up in battle array, marshalled for fight.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military operations > distribution of troops > formation > [adjective] > formed or forming in battle array
embattled1475
battled1592
embodied1667
embattling1796
1475 Bk. Noblesse (1860) 32 He comaunded the oost embatailed not forto breke.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost xii. 213 On thir imbattelld ranks the Waves return. View more context for this quotation
1676 T. Hobbes tr. Homer Iliads ix. 137 See your men i' th' morn imbattelled.
1791 W. Cowper tr. Homer Iliad in Iliad & Odyssey I. ii. 536 The chiefs..may range Together, the imbattled multitude.
1816 W. Wordsworth Sonn. to Liberty xlii Bondage threatened by the embattled East.
1867 Felton's Greece, Anc. & Mod. I. 108 The din of embattled squadrons.
b. transferred and figurative.
ΚΠ
1745 T. Warton Pleasures of Melancholy 294 At her presence mild the embattled clouds Disperse in air.
1837 H. Hallam Introd. Lit. Europe I. iv. 408 The embattled legions of ignorance.
2. Filled or covered with troops in battle array. Also figurative.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military operations > distribution of troops > formation > [adjective] > formed or forming in battle array > filled with troops in battle array
embattled1593
1593 T. Nashe Christs Teares f. 28 The Element euery night was embattailed with Armed men.
1725 W. Broome in A. Pope et al. tr. Homer Odyssey III. xi. 369 Castor glorious on th' embattled plain.
1842 J. W. Orderson Creoleana xviii. 217 He was..anxious to be at the first brunt of the embattled field.
3. Fortified, made strong or secure against attack. Cf. embattled adj.2
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > defence > defensive work(s) > [adjective]
stithc1000
strongOE
fastenedOE
warneda1300
strengtheda1382
unpregnable1387
embattledc1400
enbanedc1400
warrayable14..
impregnable1430
inexpugnable1490
strengthy1513
bulwarkeda1533
unexpugnable1533
fortified1538
well-fortified1538
unwinnablec1540
forced1548
forted1566
unbatterable1576
fencible?1579
unforcible1611
impregnate1632
untakable1652
of (good) force1697
casemated1740
well-girt1756
embattled1765
strongish1821
unbreachable1866
1765 W. Blackstone Comm. Laws Eng. I. 263 That no subject can build a castle, or house of strength imbatteled..without the licence of the king.
1834 J. Bowring Minor Morals, Story Perseverance 146 Every feudal chief was obliged to shut himself up in high and embattled towers.
1879 W. H. Dixon Royal Windsor I. iii. 28 Each manor was embattled for defence.
4. figurative. That is under attack or pressure; subject to or characterized by conflict; threatened, assailed.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > hostile action or attack > [adjective] > attacked
assaulted1601
infest1601
beleaguered1644
aggressed1795
bestormed1837
embattled1961
1961 B. Lippincott Indians, Privateers, & High Soc. iv. 54 One historical authority presents laborious and circuitous testimony..that Massachusetts was behind the clouds settling down on the embattled Gorton.
1971 A. Sampson New Anat. Brit. xxxvi. 627 In its century of existence the Congress has become as much an embattled institution..as the government or companies it is fighting.
1972 Observer 25 June 5/3 He was transferred to Olinda and Recife, the ancient See which is now his embattled base.
1978 N.Y. Times 30 Mar. a14/1 Miller, the embattled president of the United Mine Workers, suffered..‘a mild stroke’ today.
1983 Times 18 Feb. 15/2 UDS, the embattled high-street retailing group, has agreed an all-share bid from Hanson Trust.
1984 Times 13 Jan. 13/1 Britain's embattled newspaper groups are beginning to see better days.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1891; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
embattledadj.2
/ɛmˈbat(ə)ld/ 1. Architecture. Furnished with battlements, crenellated.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > defence > defensive work(s) > [adjective]
stithc1000
strongOE
fastenedOE
warneda1300
strengtheda1382
unpregnable1387
embattledc1400
enbanedc1400
warrayable14..
impregnable1430
inexpugnable1490
strengthy1513
bulwarkeda1533
unexpugnable1533
fortified1538
well-fortified1538
unwinnablec1540
forced1548
forted1566
unbatterable1576
fencible?1579
unforcible1611
impregnate1632
untakable1652
of (good) force1697
casemated1740
well-girt1756
embattled1765
strongish1821
unbreachable1866
society > armed hostility > defence > defensive work(s) > defensive walls > [adjective] > battlemented
battledc1400
embattledc1400
trochedc1400
battlemented1603
c1400 Rom. Rose I saugh a gardyn..walled welle, With high walles enbatailled.
1525 Ld. Berners tr. J. Froissart Cronycles II. clvii. [cliii.] 431 The whiche castell was enbatylled.
a1552 J. Leland Itinerary (1711) II. 11 An embatelid Waulle now sore yn ruine.
1769 T. Gray Jrnl. 9 Oct. in Corr. (1971) III. 1102 This seat..is an ancient hall-house, with a very large tower embattled.
1867 M. E. Herbert Cradle Lands vii. 195 The old embattled walls still standing.
2. Having an edge or outline shaped like a battlement; crenellated; spec. in Heraldry.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > shape > unevenness > condition or fact of receding > condition or action of indentation of edge > [adjective]
battledc1386
embattledc1386
indentedc1440
incoled1543
gapped1562
crenated1688
vandyked1832
indentured1885
society > communication > indication > insignia > heraldic devices collective > lines or edges > [adjective] > indented > crenellated
bretessé1572
counter-battled1572
embattled1572
crenellé1586
counter-embattled1863
c1386 G. Chaucer Nun's Priest's Tale 40 His comb was..Enbateled [other texts And batayld] as it were a castel wall.
1555 W. Waterman tr. J. Boemus Fardle of Facions ii. vii. 160 A copintancke, embatled aboute like a turrette.
1572 J. Bossewell Wks. Armorie ii. f. 29v Beareth Sables, & Gules, embatyled..three Fer-de-molyns d'Argente.
1753 Chambers's Cycl. Suppl. Embattled Line, in heraldry.
1803 A. Rees Cycl. Bretessed..a..charge..embattled on both sides opposite to each other.
1834 J. R. Planché Hist. Brit. Costume 222 Hats and caps..with embattled or escalloped edges.
1864 C. Boutell Heraldry Hist. & Pop. (ed. 3) iii. 18 A Fesse dancette or embattled.
1884 Harper's Mag. Mar. 529/2 The embattled cliffs and the..sea fill the view.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1891; most recently modified version published online September 2018).
<
adj.11475adj.2c1386