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embrasure

[em-brey-zher]
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noun
  1. (in fortification) an opening, as a loophole or crenel, through which missiles may be discharged.
  2. Architecture. a splayed enlargement of a door or window toward the inner face of a wall.
  3. Dentistry. the space between adjacent teeth.
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Origin of embrasure

1695–1705; < French, equivalent to embras(er) to enlarge a window or door opening, make an embrasure (apparently the same v. as embraser to set on fire (see embrace2), though sense shift unclear) + -ure -ure
Related formsem·bra·sured, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

incisionindentationheartcrannyhollowdentcubicledepressionslotangleclosetcavitynookcellcrutchforkopeningalcovecovebreak

Examples from the Web for embrasure

Historical Examples

  • Gregory and his daughter were talking together in the embrasure of a window.

    The Tavern Knight

    Rafael Sabatini

  • On every embrasure and gallery, on every terrace and platform, it was the same.

    Confessions Of Con Cregan

    Charles James Lever

  • Lady Stafford is sitting within the embrasure of the window.

    Molly Bawn

    Margaret Wolfe Hamilton

  • The gun fired through an embrasure or loophole in the wall of the room.

  • She sat with him in the adjoining room, in the embrasure of the window, for the rest of the evening.

    Daisy Miller

    Henry James

British Dictionary definitions for embrasure

embrasure

noun
  1. fortifications an opening or indentation, as in a battlement, for shooting through
  2. an opening forming a door or window, having splayed sides that increase the width of the opening in the interior
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Derived Formsembrasured, adjective

Word Origin

C18: from French, from obsolete embraser to widen, of uncertain origin
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for embrasure

n.

1702, from French embrasure (16c.), from Old French embraser "to cut at a slant, make a groove or furrow in a door or window," from en- "in" (see en- (1)) + braser "to cut at a slant."

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
embrasure in Medicine

embrasure

(ĕm-brā′zhər)
n.
  1. The sloped valley between two teeth.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.