Palisadoes

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A defensive barrier composed of closely placed vertical stakes designed to enclose an area for protection or to establish boundaries
2. A fencing arrangement utilizing vertical wooden posts set closely together to provide security and define space
3. A strong enclosure formed by setting tall, pointed wooden stakes tightly side by side to defend or mark territory

Etymology: "Palisadoes" is the plural of "palisado," a word that came into English from Spanish "palizada," a fence made of stakes, itself derived from "palo," meaning "stick" or "pole." The Spanish term traces back to Latin "palus," a stake, which is also the source of "pale," the upright stake in a fence and the origin of the phrase "beyond the pale." Because "palisado" is a noun ending in "-o" that English adopted from Spanish, its plural is formed by adding "-es," giving "palisadoes." The form is the same plural pattern seen in other borrowed Spanish nouns such as "tornado," whose plural is "tornadoes."