merlon
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of merlon
1695–1705; < French < Italian merlone, augmentative of merlo (in plural, merli battlements) < ?
Explanation
A merlon is a solid, vertical part of the wall of a fort or a battlement. The narrow opening or tiny window in a merlon is called an "embrasure slit." Merlons are always solid, and often they are the upright, pointed sections of a parapet or fortification wall. If there are wide spaces between the merlons, they are called "crenels." You can see merlons on a variety of old forts and castles, as they were commonly used from medieval times on. The Italian root is merlone, from merlo, "battlement," possibly from the Latin mergae, "two-pronged pitchfork."
Vocabulary lists containing merlon
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Motionless as a gargoyle, Tyrion Lannister handled on one knee atop a merlon.
From "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin
She grabbed a merlon for support, her fingers scrabbling at the rough stone.
From "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin
Soot stains marked some of the arrow loops, and here and there a crack or a missing merlon could be seen in the curtain wall, but it seemed little enough from this distance.
From "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin
Holly grabbed for the nearest merlon and fell.
From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin
When they had found it the Saguntine groped in the dark until he reached the end of a heavy rope fastened to a merlon, and he flung it over into space.
From Sónnica by Blasco Ibáñez, Vicente
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
