Advertisement

sortie (n.)

"attack of the besieged upon the besiegers," 1778, from French sortie (16c.), literally "a going out," noun use of fem. past participle of sortir "go out," from Vulgar Latin *surctire, from Latin surrectus, past participle of surgere "rise up" (see surge (n.)).

Others are reading

Advertisement
Definitions of sortie from WordNet

sortie (n.)
a military action in which besieged troops burst forth from their position;
Synonyms: sally
sortie (n.)
(military) an operational flight by a single aircraft (as in a military operation);
From wordnet.princeton.edu