battlement

English

Etymology

From Middle English batilment, from Old French bataillement, earlier bastillement (“fortification”), from bastillier (“to fortify, to equip with battlements”), from bastille (“fortress”) (see bastion).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): [ˈbætəɫmənt]

Noun

battlement (plural battlements)

1. In fortification: an indented parapet, formed by a series of rising members called cops or merlons, separated by openings called crenelles or embrasures, the soldier sheltering himself behind the merlon while he fires through the embrasure or through a loophole in the battlement.
2. Any high wall for defense.
3. (poetic) The towering roof of heaven.

Synonyms

• (sense, indented parapet) crenellation

Derived terms

• battlemented

Translations

indented parapet formed by a series of rising members

• Bulgarian: зъбер (bg) (zǎber)
• Catalan: cresteria f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 防衛牆／防卫墙 (zh) (fángwèiqiáng), 城垛 (zh) (chéngduǒ)

• Czech: cimbuří n
• Danish: krenelering, brystværn, kamtak
• Dutch: bolwerk (nl) n
• Esperanto: krenelo
• Finnish: sakaramuuri
• French: rempart (fr) m
• German: Befestigung (de) f, Festungsmauer (de) f, Mauerzinne f, Zinne (de) f
• Greek: πολεμίστρα (el) f (polemístra)

  Ancient: ἔπαλξις f (épalxis)

• Ido: krenelo (io)
• Italian: parapetto (it) m
• Macedonian: градобран m (gradobran)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: brystvern n

• Persian: کنگره (fa) (kongere)
• Polish: blanki (pl) nvir, krenelaż (pl) m
• Portuguese: ameia (pt)
• Russian: стена́ с бойницами f (stená s bojnicami)
• Serbo-Croatian: grudobran (sh) m, krunište (sh) n
• Spanish: almenaje (es) m
• Swedish: krenelering (sv) c
• Turkish: mazgallı siper (tr), siper (tr)

References

• “battlement”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.