crenel

[ kren-l ]

noun

1. any of the open spaces between the merlons of a battlement.
2. a crenature.

verb (used with object)

, cren·eled, cren·el·ing or (especially British) cren·elled, cren·el·ling.

1. to crenelate.

crenel

/ ˈkrɛnəl; krɪˈnɛl /

noun

1. any of a set of openings formed in the top of a wall or parapet and having slanting sides, as in a battlement
2. another name for crenation

Word History and Origins

Origin of crenel¹

1475–85; earlier creneul, crennel < Middle French, Old French, apparently diminutive of cren notch (attested since the 15th century), Old French cran, of uncertain origin; crenate, cranny

Word History and Origins

Origin of crenel¹

C15: from Old French, literally: a little notch, from cren notch, from Late Latin crēna

Example Sentences

“The crenels are all flat now. It’s slippy and feels dangerous when I walk on it.”

From Time

Drifts climbed the walls and filled the crenels along the battlements, white blankets covered every roof, tents sagged beneath the weight.

From Literature

On the inside of the rampart and in the wide crenel between two upthrust merlons.

From Literature

The heads were mounted between the crenels, along the top of the wall, impaled on iron spikes so they faced out over the city.

From Literature

Over it there is sprung a high-arched, rough stone bridge, with crenelled walls, quite as artistic in its way as may be found in pictures of ancient English brook-crossings.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• incision
• indentation