different between battlement vs embattlement

English

Etymology

From Old French bataillement, earlier bastillement (“fortification”), from bastillier (“to fortify, to equip with battlements”), from bastille (“fortress”) (see bastion).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): [?bæt??m?nt]

Noun

battlement (plural battlements)

1. In fortification: an indented parapet, formed by a series of rising members called cops or merlons, separated by openings called crenelles or embrasures, the soldier sheltering himself behind the merlon while he fires through the embrasure or through a loophole in the battlement.
2. Any high wall for defense.
3. (poetic) The towering roof of heaven.

Synonyms

• (sense, indented parapet) crenellation

Derived terms

• battlemented

Translations

References

• battlement in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

English

Etymology

embattle +? -ment

Noun

embattlement (countable and uncountable, plural embattlements)

1. (countable) A battlement.
   • 1970, Anthony Langham, Myrtle Ternstrom, Lundy

     Embattlements and towers may have formed part of the original structure […]

2. (uncountable) The state of being embattled.