enfilade

[ en-fuh-leyd, -lahd, en-fuh-leyd, -lahd ]

noun

1. Military.
   1. a position of works, troops, etc., making them subject to a sweeping fire from along the length of a line of troops, a trench, a battery, etc.
   2. the fire thus directed.
2. Architecture.
   1. an axial arrangement of doorways connecting a suite of rooms with a vista down the whole length of the suite.
   2. an axial arrangement of mirrors on opposite sides of a room so as to give an effect of an infinitely long vista.

verb (used with object)

, en·fi·lad·ed, en·fi·lad·ing.

1. Military. to attack with an enfilade.

enfilade

/ ˌɛnfɪˈleɪd /

noun

1. a position or formation subject to fire from a flank along the length of its front

verb

1. to subject (a position or formation) to fire from a flank
2. to position (troops or guns) so as to be able to fire at a flank

Other Words From

• un·enfi·laded adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of enfilade¹

1695–1705; < French, equivalent to enfil ( er ) to thread, string ( en- en- ¹ + -filer, derivative of fil < Latin fīlum thread) + -ade -ade ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of enfilade¹

C18: from French: suite, from enfiler to thread on string, from fil thread

Example Sentences

Traveling there, Ireland photographed enfiladed rooms in knotty pine, and glass-front built-ins abandoned to a lone rifle and scant rows of books.

From New York Times

Brodsky, future winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, lived in a single room that had been part of a palatial enfilade.

From New York Times

But the rules weren’t that obtrusive — if you can handle a supermarket aisle in these bad new days, you can handle an enfilade of galleries.

From New York Times

He braced himself for one of Lillian’s cold, puissant lectures to enfilade the dispirited citadel of his self-respect.

From Literature

Up ahead, the plesiosaur riders were probably readying their artillery, or simply loading their muskets to enfilade them as soon as they were in range.

From Literature

Related Words

• artillery
• barrage
• blast
• bombardment
• burst
• detonation
• firing
• shooting
• thunder
• volley