battlement

American  

[bat-l-muhnt] / ˈbæt l mənt /

noun

1. Often battlements. a parapet or cresting, originally defensive but later usually decorative, consisting of a regular alternation of merlons and crenels; crenelation.

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battlement British  

/ ˈbætəlmənt /

noun

1. a parapet or wall with indentations or embrasures, originally for shooting through

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Other Word Forms

• battlemented adjective

Etymology

Origin of battlement

1275–1325; Middle English batelment < Middle French bataille battlement; see -ment

Explanation

A battlement is an extremely strong wall built to defend a city or castle from enemies while providing cover to defensive troops. The oldest known battlements were constructed in ancient Egypt. During the Middle Ages — and for thousands of years before that — battlements were one of the main defenses during war. They could take the form of separate walls surrounding a city, or be part of a building. In either case, they featured regular gaps or windows called crenels, through which defenders could fire weapons at advancing attackers. Battlement comes from the Old French bastille, "fortress."

Example Sentences

One night, as she walks with Donatello along a battlement, they see the model nearby, dressed as a friar.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 27, 2026

A gun sits atop a buried battlement under the flags, part of a vast underground network of German defenses.

From Seattle Times • May 15, 2019

But in the six decades that the Henderson Castle loomed over 16th Street NW, it was probably the city’s most impressive faux battlement.

From Washington Post • Dec. 9, 2017

Hairdressers with ideas above their stations; dreary waifs wilting in garrets; talking statues; battlement suicides; to say nothing of the one with the Viking hats.

From The Guardian • Feb. 14, 2011

Pippin cowered down with his hands pressed to his ears; but Beregond, who had been looking out from the battlement as he spoke of Faramir, remained there, stiffened, staring out with starting eyes.

From "The Return of the King" by J.R.R. Tolkien