parapet

/ˈpæɹəpɪt/

Etymology

From Middle French parapet, from Italian parapetto.

parapet means A low protective wall. Lexicurio rates it Rare gem — a strength score of 80 out of 100.

parapet is pronounced /ˈpæɹəpɪt/.

Why “parapet” is a great word

PARAPET — [Noun] A low protective wall or barrier at the edge of a roof, bridge, or rampart. From Italian *parapetto*, from *parare* (“to shield, to guard”) + *petto* (“chest, breast”), from Latin *parare* (“to prepare, ward off”) and *pectus* (“chest”). Unlike a “balustrade,” which is an open, decorative rail of slender pillars, or a “rampart,” the massive, foundational wall of a fortification, a parapet is the definitive, solid lip—the final edge between solidity and void. It is the rough stone coping where a soldier kneels to peer into the fog of battle, the smooth concrete curb that contains the vertigo of a city rooftop, the crenellated top of a castle wall where a defender could stand, momentarily safe. It exists to make a precipice inhabitable: architecture’s most honest gesture at the line where shelter meets exposure.

noun

A low protective wall.“Engineers will be closely checking the bridge for damage beyond the obvious smashed parapets.”
Part of a perimeter that extends above the roof.“Maccario, it was evident, did not care to take the risk of blundering upon a picket, and a man led them by twisting paths until at last the hacienda rose blackly before them. Appleby could see it dimly, a blur of shadowy buildings with the ridge of roof parapet alone cutting hard and sharp against the clearing sky.”
A fortification consisting of a wall.“Obviously if you have only a few days in which to train a soldier, you must teach him the things he will most need; how to take cover, how to advance across open ground, how to mount guards and build a parapet – above all, how to use his weapons.”