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crenellated

adjective
cren·​el·​lat·​ed | \ ˈkre-nə-ˌlā-təd How to pronounce crenellated (audio) \
variants: or crenelated

Definition of crenellated

: having crenellations a crenellated wall

Examples of crenellated in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

 The misty mountain ridges and the crenellated ramparts snaking along them as far as the eye could see were beautiful. — Klara Glowczewska, Town & Country, "Why Now Is the Time to Visit China," 14 July 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'crenellated.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

First Known Use of crenellated

circa 1823, in the meaning defined above

History and Etymology for crenellated

from past participle of crenellate "to furnish with crenellations," borrowed (with -ate entry 3 replacing -é) from French crenelé "having crenellations," going back to Old French quernelé, from crenel, quernel "crenellation" (from cren, cran "notch"—going back to Gallo-Romance *crēn- or *crĭn-, of uncertain origin— + -el, diminutive suffix) + -é -ee entry 1

Note: While French appears to have reflexes of a Romance masculine noun, a feminine noun is evident in Franco-Provençal, Sursilvan (Rhaeto-Romance dialect), and Upper Italian dialects. Französisches etymologisches Wörterbuch (2.2. pp. 1339-42) sees the noun as a derivative of a verb *crĭnare "to split," putatively from Gaulish; but the sole basis of this hypothesis is the Old Irish verb ara-chrin "(it) decays, fails, withers" (with an infixed neuter singular pronoun), the etymology of which is quite uncertain. If the base is *crin- "sift, shake, separate" (see Stefan Schumacher, Die Keltischen Primärverben, Innsbruck, 2004, pp. 420-22), there can be no connection with "split" or "notch." Pace Französisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, there is no verb crenare in the Reichenau Glosses.

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More Definitions for crenellated

crenellated

adjective
How to pronounce crenellated (audio)

English Language Learners Definition of crenellated

: having open spaces at the top of a wall so that people can shoot guns and cannons outward

See the full definition for crenellated in the English Language Learners Dictionary

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Rhyming Dictionary: Words that rhyme with crenellated

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