Bastillement

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A defensive structure built with projecting bastions around a fortified town, castle or other military position
2. The bastioned earthwork or masonry defenses that protect a fort by jutting outward from its walls
3. A system of projecting fortified towers, called bastions, raised to guard a stronghold against attack

Etymology: Bastillement comes from Old French "bastillement," the noun of action or result from "bastiller," meaning to build or fortify with a bastille, a bastion-like structure. The noun itself is a formation from "bastille," which in medieval French referred to a fortified tower or stronghold, and this is the same root that gave Paris its famous prison, the Bastille, a name that originally meant nothing more than a fortress. The word came into English in the 15th century, and in its earliest use it referred to the act of fortifying or the fortifications themselves. Over time, its sense narrowed to the specific projecting defences built along the top of a wall or tower, such as the overhanging parapets and wooden galleries from which defenders could drop missiles on attackers below.