Battlement

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: [ˈbætəɫmənt]

Definitions

1. A defensive architectural feature characterized by a notched parapet or wall, commonly found on fortifications or castles
2. A fortified structure's top section designed for defense and featuring alternating raised and lowered sections
3. A protective element of castle walls that allows defenders to shield themselves while providing openings for combat actions

Etymology: The word looks like "battle" plus the suffix "-ment", and that is exactly the trap it sets. The real ancestor is "bastille", an Old French word meaning "fortress", which also gave English "bastion". Old French formed "bastillier", meaning "to fortify, to equip with battlements", and from that came "bastillement", meaning "fortification". The "battle" spelling came later, when English speakers, reading the word as a military term about fighting, reshaped it to match. Middle English first recorded the word as "batilment", and the sense stayed close to its French source: the walls and parapets of a fortress, not the fighting itself. The modern form grew out of that spelling, so a word that began as a fortress term ended up looking like a combat word while its meaning stayed defensive.

Synonyms: parapet, merlon, embrasure