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Glite Dictionary
merlon

merlon

1 9.9
A solid part of a castle wall between two open gaps
  • noun
  • /ˈmɜr.lən/
  • Specialized
: merlón
  • The best scenario I can see here is that Jen gets her well-deserved break, but not a single merlon in this castle's crenelations is weakened, and no firepower is lost from the ranks of FtB's firing line.

Examples

  • The castle's merlons provided crucial protection for the guards stationed on the battlements.

  • The walls are repaired and merlons are added.

  • The walls are repaired and merlons are added.

  • It stretched up and up, a thousand walls within other walls, all with wide merlons, narrow crenels, and thousands of turrets and balconied minarets.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • The gate, along with the chimney pots that serrated the sky like crenels and merlons, evoked for Claude the image of a sprawling castle.

    Fiction book (1992)

  • As they walked along the fortress walls, they admired the impressive merlons that stood tall between each opening.

  • During the renovation, craftsmen focused on restoring the ancient merlons to preserve the historical integrity of the fort.

Surface Forms

merlon singular
merlons plural

Etymology

Merlon comes from an old French word related to merle 'blackbird' because the little solid parts on a wall looked like a bird's rounded back. So a merlon is the solid upright part of a battlement where soldiers can take cover.