rampart

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French rempart (“a rampart of a fort”), from Old French remparer (“to defend, fortify, inclose with a rampart”), from re- (“again”) + emparer (“to defend, fortify, surround, seize, take possesion of”), from Old Occitan amparer, from Vulgar Latin *anteparō (“to prepare”), from Latin ante- + parō (“to prepare”).

noun

1. A defensive mound of earth or a wall with a broad top and usually a stone parapet; a wall-like ridge of earth, stones or debris; an embankment for defensive purpose.
2. A defensive structure; a protective barrier; a bulwark.
3. That which defends against intrusion from outside; a protection.
4. (usually in the plural) A steep bank of a river or gorge.

verb

1. To defend with a rampart; fortify or surround with a rampart.
   Those grassy hills, those glittering dells, / Proudly ramparted with rocks. 1793, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Ode on the Departing Year