terreplein
The Great Wall of China near Mutianyu. The terreplein is the level space between the crenellated parapets on either side of the wall.
Meaning
Noun
- The sloping earthen embankment behind a defensive wall.
- The level platform atop a wall, typically protected by a parapet and distinguished from the slightly higher banquette used by its defenders.
- Any level base used by artillery in the field.
- Any earthen embankment with a broad level top, such as those used for a canal elevated above a valley floor.
Related
Similar words
Origin
- Originally a borrowing of Italian terrapieno ("earth-fill([[filled"), later altered after the model of French terreplein (now terre-plein). Its former misspellings arose from confusion of the second element of the name with Italian piano or French plain, plane based on the appearance of the earth-filled central platforms of walls.
Modern English dictionary
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