A fortified structure or stronghold; historically, a variant spelling or reference to a type of fortification or the name of people who built them.
'Fortescue' appears to derive from 'forte' (strong place) combined with 'scue' or 'scu' (an Old English term for fortress). It's an English surname tied to medieval fortifications; the Fortescue family were prominent landowners. The word reflects Norman-English architecture terminology.
Place names and surnames often encode lost vocabulary—'Fortescue' preserves an archaic way of describing a fortress that's otherwise gone from English. When you see old surnames, you're reading a linguistic fossil record of how medieval people talked about buildings and power.
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.