crenellation
/ˌkɹɛnəˈleɪʃən/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: 0.00 in modern English
14
Scrabble Score
12
Letters
4
Syllables
9
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A pattern along the top of a parapet (fortified wall), most often in the form of multiple, regular, rectangular spaces in the top of the wall, through which arrows or other weaponry may be shot, especially as used in medieval European architecture.
Countable; Uncountable
noun
The act of crenellating; adding a top row that looks like the top of a medieval castle.
Uncountable
noun
Any of a series of notches with fancied resemblance to such battlements, as for example around the bezel of a flashlight.
Countable
Example Sentences
- "This villa was long and low and white, and severe after its manner : for upon and about it were none of those playful ebullitions of taste, such as conical towers, domed roofs, embattlements, statues, coloured tiles and crenellations, such as are dear to architects of villas all the world over."
- "And so, when the noon sun was shining over the palace, Eslaf quickly scaled the wall near the front gate and waited, hidden in the crenelations. The interior courtyard was plain and desolate, with few places to hide, but he saw that there were two wells."
Etymology
From crenellate + -ion (suffix indicating an action or process, or its result). Crenellate is derived from French créneler (“to form the shape of a crenel, crenellate”), from Old French crenel (“crenel, embrasure”) (modern French créneau) (from Latin *crēnella, diminutive of crēna (“incision; notch”); compare Old French cren (“a notch”)) + -er (suffix forming infinitives of first conjugation verbs).
Origin
- Source language: French
Word Breakdown
- Root: créneler, crenel, *crēnella
- Suffix: crenellate
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˌkɹɛnəˈleɪʃən/
- British English: /ˌkɹɛnəlˈeɪʃən/