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Origin and history of rampart

rampart(n.)

"earthen elevation around a place for fortification," capable of resisting cannon shot and sometimes also including parapets, 1580s, from French rempart, rampart, from remparer "to fortify," from re- "again" (see re-) + emparer "fortify, take possession of," from Old Provençal amparer, from Vulgar Latin *anteparare "prepare," properly "to make preparations beforehand," from Latin ante "before" (from PIE root *ant- "front, forehead," with derivatives meaning "in front of, before") + parare "to get, prepare" (from PIE root *pere- (1) "to produce, procure"). With unetymological -t in French, perhaps by influence of boulevart (see boulevard).

also from 1580s

Entries linking to rampart

boulevard(n.)

1769, "broad street or promenade planted with rows of trees," from French boulevard, originally "top surface of a military rampart" (15c.), from a garbled attempt to adopt Middle Dutch bolwerc "wall of a fortification" (see bulwark) into French, which at that time lacked a -w- in its alphabet.

The notion is of a promenade atop demolished city walls, which would be wider than the old streets. Originally in English with conscious echoes of Paris; in U.S., since 1929, used of multi-lane limited-access urban highways. Early French attempts to digest the Dutch word also include boloart, boulever, boloirque, and bollvercq.

*ant-

Proto-Indo-European root meaning "front, forehead," with derivatives meaning "in front of, before; end." Also see *ambhi-.

It might form all or part of: advance; advantage; along; ancestor; ancient (adj.); answer; Antaeus; ante; ante-; ante meridiem; antecede; antecedent; antedate; antediluvian; ante-partum; antepenultimate; anterior; anti-; antic; anticipate; anticipation; antique; antler; avant-garde; elope; end; rampart; un- (2) prefix of reversal; until; vambrace; vamp (n.1) "upper of a shoe or boot;" vanguard.

It might also be the source of: Sanskrit antah "end, border, boundary;" Hittite hanti "opposite;" Greek anta, anten "opposite," anti "over against, opposite, before;" Latin ante (prep., adv.) "before (in place or time), in front of, against;" Old Lithuanian anta "on to;" Gothic anda "along;" Old English and- "against;" German ent- "along, against."