sortie
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈsɔːti/
ipa: /ˈsɔɹti/
ipa: [-ɾi]
rhymes: -ɔːti
Forms: form: sorties
Etymology: PIE word
 *upó
The noun is borrowed from French sortie (“act of exiting; exit, way out; (military) sally, sortie”), the feminine past participle of sortir (“to exit, go out”), from Old French sortir, from Latin sortīrī, the present active infinitive of sortior (“to cast or draw lots; to choose, select; to distribute, divide; to obtain, receive; to share”), from sors (“something used to determine chances, a lot; casting or drawing of lots; decision by lot; a share”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ser- (“to bind, tie together; a thread”)), possibly influenced by surrēctus (“arisen, having been caused to arise; gotten up, having been gotten up”), the perfect passive participle of surgō (“to arise, get up, rise”), from subrigō (“to lift up; to straighten”), from sub- (prefix meaning ‘beneath, under’) + regō (“to direct, guide, steer; to govern, rule; to manage, oversee”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₃reǵ- (“to right oneself, straighten; just; right”)).
The verb is derived from the noun.
Senses: examples: text: The events of these sieges show that a bold and vigorous sortie in force might carry destruction through every part of a besieger's approaches, where the guard is injudiciously disposed and ill commanded; but that if due precautions have been observed in forming the approaches and posting the defenders, any sortie from a besieged place must be checked with loss in their advance, when the approaches are still distant; or when the approaches are near, should a sortie succeed in pushing into them by a sudden rush, the assailants must inevitably be driven out again in a moment, with terrible slaughter.
ref: 1827, John T[homas] Jones, “[Notes.] Note 35 [Observations on the Several Sorties Made by the Garrisons of the Places Besieged in Spain].”, in Journals of Sieges Carried on by the Army under the Duke of Wellington, in Spain, between the Years 1811 and 1814. […], volume II, London: […] [C. Roworth] for T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC, page 369:
topics: government
military
politics
war
glosses: An attack made by troops from a besieged position; a sally.
examples: text: Their aircraft had no belly gunners and were at the mercy of Luftwaffe fighters that attacked from below. Whenever they lifted off on a mission, they departed with the knowledge that this sortie could easily be their last.
ref: 2019 May 8, Aron Heller, “These Jewish World War II Veterans Would Be Legends, if People Knew Their Stories”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
text: They are vastly outnumbered: Russia is believed to fly some 200 sorties per day while Ukraine flies five to 10.
ref: 2022 March 22, Maria Varenikova, Andrew E. Kramer, “How Ukraine’s Outgunned Air Force Is Fighting Back Against Russian Jets”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
topics: aeronautics
aerospace
aviation
business
engineering
government
military
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
politics
war
glosses: An operational flight carried out by a single military aircraft.
examples: text: ‘I'm just not interested in the whole class crap that seems to needle you and all the tax-payers,’ the teenager tells some ‘pre-historic monster’ of an adult, with a ‘cool’ snobbishness which MacInnes's companion on many of his Notting Hill sorties, the late Professor Richard Wollheim, compared to the ‘Sang Froid’ of Baudelaire's Dandy as he cruised through Fin-de-Siecle Paris with a similar sensibility, or lack of it.
ref: 2007 April 14, Ed Vulliamy, “Absolute MacInnes”, in The Guardian:
text: Finally, the astronauts will descend to the lunar surface. After their sortie on the moon, they'll return to the orbital station.
ref: 2019 July 8, Jeff Foust, “NASA’s Lunar Space Station Is a Great/Terrible Idea”, in IEEE Spectrum, New York, N.Y.: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 28 Nov 2021:
glosses: An act of venturing out to do a task, etc.
glosses: An act of trying to enter a new field of activity.
examples: text: Kai Johansen made a sortie down the right and, running out of ideas, tried a shot from more than 20 yards.
ref: 1998, David Potter, Tom Campbell, Jock Stein: The Celtic Years, Edinburgh: Mainstream Publishing, published 2005, →ISBN:
topics: hobbies
lifestyle
sports
glosses: An attacking move.
topics: aerospace
astronautics
business
engineering
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
glosses: An operational flight carried out by a spacecraft involving a return to Earth.
examples: text: [I]t was all encompassed by the palisades and breastworks, to which were but three sorties, whence the defenders might sally, or through which at need the vanguard might secure a retreat.
ref: 1848, [Edward Bulwer-Lytton], chapter VII, in Harold, the Last of the Saxon Kings; […], volume III, London: Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC, book XII (The Field of Hastings), pages 331–332:
topics: government
military
politics
war
glosses: Synonym of sally port (“an entry to or opening into a fortification to enable a sally”).
synonyms: word: sally port
extra: an entry to or opening into a fortification to enable a sally
topics: arts
hobbies
lifestyle
photography
glosses: A series of aerial photographs taken during the flight of an aircraft; (by extension) a photography session.
Hyponyms: bombing run
milk run
Related terms: english: emergency defensive air force mission to intercept attacking enemy aircraft
translation: emergency defensive air force mission to intercept attacking enemy aircraft
word: scramble