Difference between 濠 and 堀


I wanted to know what is the difference between 濠 (gō) and 堀 (hori). I've only
seen 濠 in context of 環濠 (kangō), 豪華な (gōkana) and 豪州 (gōshū). From what I know
環濠 and 堀 both means moat. Well, then, what does 濠 means alone?




堀 refers to artificial ditches in general. 壕 is a dry version, and 濠 is a wet
version filled with water. Practically, I kind of feel 壕 and 濠 tend to be used
in military contexts, whereas 堀 tends to refer to permanent and beautiful ones
surrounding large castles.

Note that 壕 and 濠 are [phono-sementic
kanji](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_character_classification#Phono-
semantic_compound_characters); the left parts (土 = soil and 氵 = water)
contribute to the meaning, but the right part, 豪, just represents the sound
ごう. The kanji 豪 on its own means something like "great" or "magnificent", as
in 豪華, but its _meaning_ is not important in 濠 and 壕. 豪 in 豪州 is [just an
ateji](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/a/86379/5010).

