casemate

[ keys-meyt ]

noun

1. an armored enclosure for guns in a warship.
2. a vault or chamber, especially in a rampart, with embrasures for artillery.

casemate

/ ˈkeɪsˌmeɪt /

noun

1. an armoured compartment in a ship or fortification in which guns are mounted

Derived Forms

• ˈcaseˌmated, adjective

Other Words From

• casemated adjective
• un·casemated adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of casemate¹

1565–75; < Middle French < Old Italian casamatta, alteration (by folk etymology) of Greek chásmata embrasures, literally, openings, plural of chásma chasm

Word History and Origins

Origin of casemate¹

C16: from French, from Italian casamatta, perhaps from Greek khasmata apertures, plural of khasma chasm

Example Sentences

A bursting shell had started a fire among some cordite charges in the casemate.

From Project Gutenberg

The bomb-proof barracks of the northern fronts mount in casemate two tiers of fourteen guns at the curtains.

From Project Gutenberg

It entered the port-casemate forward, killed three men standing at the gun, and plunged into the boiler.

From Project Gutenberg

At the entrance, a casemate has been burst open by a French 400 shell.

From Project Gutenberg

In one casemate is a small museum of shells, grenades, trench mortars, machine guns and all kinds of respirators.

From Project Gutenberg