embrasure means any of the indentations between the merlons of a battlement; an opening in a wall or parapet through which ordnance can be fired. It carries an Arena rating of 1726, earned across 6 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, embrasure ranks #116 of 13,220 for Most Elegant Words, #1,753 of 13,220 for Most Vivid Words, #1,994 of 13,220 for Best Fossil-Poetry Words, #2,415 of 13,220 for Most Ingenious Words.
embrasure is pronounced /ɪmˈbɹeɪʒə(ɹ)/.
Why “embrasure” is a great word
An opening in a fortification wall, splayed inward to permit the firing of weapons, or the similarly shaped recess for a door or window. From French embrasure, from embraser ('to cut at a slant, make a groove') + -ure (noun-forming suffix). Unlike a crenel, which is merely the notched gap in a battlement, or a port, a generic opening, an embrasure is defined by its deliberate, funneling geometry—the whole crafted cavity. It is the cool, tapered shadow inside a thick stone wall where a cannon's muzzle rests, the smooth stone lip worn by the press of a forearm, and the calculated slit of light that narrows a defender's world to a single, lethal line of sight. In its careful angling lies the sober truth that every defensive posture is also a frame for viewing the world.
Etymology
From French embrasure, from embras(er) + -ure, from Old French embrasure (“cut at a slant, make a groove or furrow”), from em- + braser (“cut at a slant”).
noun
- Any of the indentations between the merlons of a battlement; an opening in a wall or parapet through which ordnance can be fired.“Near-synonym: crenel (sometimes hyponymous technically)”
- Any small protected space.“She had a special seat there, a little embrasure between two upright slabs of sandstone, which was sheltered and private.”
- The slanting indentation in a wall for a door or window, such that the space is larger on the inside than the outside.“When the fit had spent itself he walked weakly to the window and, lifting the sash, sat in a corner of the embrasure and leaned his elbow upon the sill.”
- An embrace.“And suddenly; where injury of chance / Puts back leave-taking, justles roughly by / All time of pause, rudely beguiles our lips / Of all rejoindure, forcibly prevents / Our lock'd embrasures, strangles our dear vows / Even in the birth of our own labouring breath:”
Words closest in meaning
By meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.
- battlement 90% match — 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. vs embrasure →
- crenellation 88% match — A pattern along the top of a parapet (fortified wall), most often in the form of multiple, regular, rectangular spaces in the top of the wall, through which arrows or other weaponry may be shot, especially as used in medieval European architecture. vs embrasure →
- machicolation 86% match — An opening between corbels that support a projecting parapet, or in the floor of a gallery or the roof of a portal, of a fortified building from which missiles can be shot or heated items dropped upon assailants attacking the base of the walls. vs embrasure →
- casemate 86% match — A bombproof chamber, usually of masonry, in which cannon may be placed, to be fired through embrasures; or one capable of being used as a magazine, or for quartering troops. vs embrasure →
- merlon 84% match — Any of the upright projections between the embrasures of a battlement, originally for archers to shield behind while shooting arrows over the embrasures, or through loopholes in the merlons. vs embrasure →
- embattle 83% match — To arrange in order of battle; to array for battle. vs embrasure →
- parapet 82% match — A low protective wall. vs embrasure →
- machicolate 82% match — To furnish with machicolations. vs embrasure →