retrenchment
/ɹəˈtɹɛnt͡ʃm(ə)nt/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.38 in modern English
19
Scrabble Score
12
Letters
3
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A defensive work constructed within a fortification to make it more defensible by allowing defenders to retreat into and fight from it even after the enemy has taken the outer work.
Dated
noun
The adoption of a defensive and hostile posture; refusal to compromise, radicalization.
Countable; Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "It agrees that redundant services should not be continued but is not unmindful of the fact that too much retrenchment of rail services now may ultimately prove detrimental to the economy of the country."
- "Last year it was announced that electrification of L.M.R. main lines was to be speeded up and that it would be essential for the engineers to have the longest possible occupation of the lines involved; this would mean some retrenchment of passenger train services."
- "And the retrenchment of services such as mental health and drug rehabilitation means that vulnerable people are more likely to find themselves on the street."
- "Must my anxious management, my prudent retrenchments, dear Margaretta's savings, all go!"
- "From this time, the hand which had ever been ready to supply all our wants real or imaginary, opened less promptly at our demands. My father talked occasionally of retrenchment and economy when some of our extravagant bills came in; but we paid little heed to his remarks on this head. Where could we retrench? In what could we economize? The very idea was absurd."
- "Even then—10 long years ago—our disillusionment over past failures, our revulsion against moralistic posturing, our retrenchment from prescribing what was best for other people, our withdrawal symptoms from the exhilarations of overcommitment—all these argued for the perspective of diversity; for lowering our goals."
Etymology
Probably partly from both of the following: * Middle French retrenchement, retranchement (“removal of a portion from a larger whole; reduction of expenses”) (modern French retranchement (“deduction, subtraction”)), from retrancher, retranchier (“to get rid of, remove completely; to remove a portion from a larger whole; to reduce expenses; to deprive (oneself) of”) [and other forms] + -ment (suffix forming nouns usually of an action or a state resulting from an action). Retrancher and retranchier are derived from Old French re- (prefix meaning ‘again, once more’) + tranchier, trenchier (“to cut”) [and other forms] (modern French trancher (“to slice”)); the further etymology is uncertain, but one possibility is that the Old French words are from Latin truncāre, the present active infinitive of truncō (“to mutilate by cutting off pieces; to truncate”), from truncus (“tree trunk; piece cut off”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *twerḱ- (“to carve; to cut off, trim”). * retrench (“to cut down, reduce; to reduce expenses; to make (an employee) redundant”) + -ment. Retrench is derived from Middle French retrancher, retranchier: see above.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ɹəˈtɹɛnt͡ʃm(ə)nt/
- British English: /ɹɪˈtɹɛn(t)ʃm(ə)nt/