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merlon

 - 3 dictionary results

mer⋅lon

  [mur-luhn]
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–noun
(in a battlement) the solid part between two crenels.

Origin:
1695–1705; < F < It merlone, aug. of merlo (in pl., merli battlements) < ?
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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mer·lon   (mûr'lən)   
n.  A solid portion between two crenels in a battlement or crenelated wall.

[French, from Italian merlone, augmentative of merlo, battlement, perhaps from Medieval Latin merulus, from Latin, merle (from their imagined similarity to blackbirds sitting on a wall).]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

merlon 
"solid part of a battlement," 1704, from Fr. merlon, from It. merlone, aug. of merlo "battlement," perhaps a contraction of mergola, dim. of L. mergae "two-pronged pitchfork."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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