abatis

See also: Abatis and abatís

English
Drawing of an abatis.

Alternative forms

Etymology

From French abatis, abattis (“mass of things beaten or cut down”), from abattre. See abate.

Pronunciation
  • (Received Pronunciation) singular IPA(key): /ˈæbətiː/, plural IPA(key): /ˈæbətiːz/
  • (General American) IPA(key): /ˈæbətəs/; also singular IPA(key): /ˈæbətiː/, plural IPA(key): /ˈæbətiːz/
  • Audio (CA)(file)

Noun

abatis (plural abatis or abatises)

  1. A means of defense formed by felled trees, or sometimes by bent trees, the ends of whose branches are sharpened and directed outwards, or against the enemy, and more recently fortified with barbed wire. [Mid 19th century.][1]
  2. (historical) In the Middle Ages, an officer of the stables who had the care of measuring out the provender; an avenor.
  3. In coal-mining, walls of cord-wood piled up crosswise to keep the underground roads open so as to secure ventilation.

Derived terms

Translations

References
  1. Lesley Brown, editor-in-chief, William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, editors (2002), “abatis”, in The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles, 5th edition, Oxford, New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 2.

Further reading

Anagrams

Catalan

Pronunciation

Verb

abatis

  1. second-person singular present subjunctive of abatre

Ido

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /aˈbatis/

Verb

abatis

  1. past of abatar

Portuguese

Pronunciation
 
  • (Portugal) IPA(key): /ɐ.bɐˈtiʃ/ [ɐ.βɐˈtiʃ]

Noun

abatis m (plural abatises)

  1. abatis (fortification formed by felled trees with sharpened branches)
This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.