Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Parapet |
ParapetNoun1. Fortification consisting of a low wall. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "parapet" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1550. (references) |
Etymology: Parapet \Par"a*pet\, noun. [French expression, from Italian parapetto, from parare to ward off, guard (L. parare to prepare, provide) petto the breast, from Latin expression pectus. See Parry, and Pectoral.]. (references) |
| Domain | Definition |
Building & Civil Engineering | The portion of steining above the ground level built to prevent surface water from going into the well and to suit the water lifting arrangement. Source: European Union. (references) |
| A solid wall built for ornament or for the safety of vehicles and pedestrians. Source: European Union. (references) | |
Literature | Parapet Fortification, the shot-proof covering of a mass of earth on the exterior edge of the ramparts. The openings cut through the parapets to permit guns to fire in the required direction are called embrasures: about 18 feet is allowed from one embrasure to another, and the solid intervening part is called the merlon. An indented parapet is a battlement. (Italian, parapetto, breastwork.). Source: Brewer's Dictionary. |
Military | Mound of earth thrown up as a protective barricade, made up of spoil removed from the ditch; often called a breastwork. (references) |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
A parapet (from the Italian parapetto and/or the French parapet, from Italian para, imperative of Italian parare (to cover, defend) and petto (breast), ultimately from the Latin pectus (breast); the Germans use the term Brustwehr (breast-defence)) consists of a dwarf wall along the edge of a roof, or round a lead flat, terrace walk, etc., to prevent persons from falling over, and as a protection to the defenders in case of a siege.Parapets are either plain, embattled, perforated or panelled. The last two are found in all styles except the Romanesque.
Plain parapets are simply portions of the wall generally overhanging a little, with a coping at the top and corbel table below.
Embattled parapets are sometimes panelled, but oftener pierced for the discharge of arrows, etc.
Perforated parapets are pierced in various devices as circles, trefoils, quatrefoils and other designs so that the light is seen through.
Panelled parapets are those ornamented by a series of panels, either oblong or square, and more or less enriched, but not perforated. These are common in the Decorated and Perpendicular periods.
Compare breastwork.
Original text from the 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Parapet."
Synonym: ParapetSynonym: breastwork (n). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Defense | Safeguard; (safety); balistraria; bunker, screen; (shelter); camouflage; (concealment); fortification; munition, muniment; trench, foxhole; bulwark, fosse, moat, ditch, entrenchment, intrenchment; kila; dike, dyke; parapet, sunk fence, embankment, mound, mole, bank, sandbag, revetment; earth work, field-work; fence, wall dead wall, contravallation; paling; (inclosure); palisade, haha, stockade, stoccado, laager, sangar; barrier, barricade; boom; portcullis, chevaux de frise; abatis, abattis, abbatis; vallum, circumvallation, battlement, rampart, scarp; escarp, counter-scarp; glacis, casemate; vallation, vanfos. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Parapet |
| English words defined with "parapet": balcony, barbette, Barbette battery, barbette carriage, Barbette gun, Berme, Brattishing, Breastrail, Brisure ♦ Contravallation, Counterscarf ♦ Dead angle, Deck roof, Direct fire, Disappearing carriage ♦ Earthbag, Embattlement ♦ Filleting, Foot bank ♦ Genouillere ♦ Hurter ♦ In battery, Interior crest ♦ machicolation, Magistral line, Merlon ♦ Parapeted, Plongee ♦ Sap fagot ♦ terreplein, trench. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "parapet": Barbette , en barbette ♦ Crest of Dam, Curtain Wall ♦ Ditch-in-front, ditch-in-rear, ditch both sides ♦ Embrasure, en embrasure, En Barbette ♦ Gun Pit ♦ Rifle Trench. (references) |
| Etymologies containing "parapet": Brettice. (references) |
| Non-English Usage: "Parapet" is also a word in the following languages with English translations in parentheses. Albanian (parapet, partition), Czech (parapet, window sill), French (breastwork, parapet), Romanian (battlement, bulwark, fence, parapet, traverse), Serbo-Croatian (parapet), Swedish (parapet), Turkish (bulwark). |
| Domain | Title |
Books | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
 | Exterior view. Photograph by Robert W. Kerrigan, March 1937. (Reproduction Number: HABS NEV,15-GOLD,1-1) This weathered firehouse once served the now-abandoned town of Gold Hill, the frontier mining community associated with the discovery of the Comstock Lode of silver ore in 1859. Gold Hill and neighboring Virginia City profited greatly from the rich lode through the 1860s and 1870s until the mines gave out around 1880. The Liberty Fire House is typical of the early wooden fire houses that protected many Western mining towns. It featured a false parapet front, a simple belfry, and rustic siding. It collapsed not long after this 1937 photo was taken. The belfry alone was retained as a monument. Credit: Library of Congress. |  | Fort Pulaski, Ga. Interior view of front parapet. Credit: Library of Congress. |
 | Charleston, S.C. Federal squadron dressed with flags for the anniversary of Maj. Robert Anderson's surrender (1861) seen from a parapet of Fort Sumter. Credit: Library of Congress. |  | Parapet of Cabanas Castle, Havana. Credit: Library of Congress. |
 | The Bridge from east parapet, Fort Snelling, Minn. Credit: Library of Congress. | ||
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
| Title | Author | Quote |
Les Miserables | Hugo, Victor | There could be seen moving above the parapet, the bust of the driver, whip in hand |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| "Parapet" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 99.58% of the time. "Parapet" is used about 240 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 99.58% | 239 | 19,365 |
| Lexical Verb (base form) | 0.42% | 1 | 339,140 |
| Total | 100.00% | 240 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
Expressions using "parapet": balcony parapet ♦ parapet walk ♦ parapet wall. Additional references. | |
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "parapet": parapet-deck. | |
Ending with "parapet": party-wall-parapet. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Language | Translations for "parapet"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Afrikaans | balustrade (balustrade, banisters, railing). (various references) | |
Albanian | parapet (partition), mur i ulët. (various references) | |
Arabic | متراس (barricade, bulwark, earthwork, mound, mount, rampart, redoubt), حاجز الشرفة, حاجز (arresting, bail, bar, barricade, barrier, block, dike, divider, division, dyke, fence, jamming, levee, obstacle, partition, rail, screen, stem, traverse), درابزين (balustrade, banister, fender, guard rail, handrail, railing, stair rod). (various references) | |
Basque | luebaki. (various references) | |
Bulgarian | бруствер (breastwork), парапет (guardrail, handrail, rail, railing). (various references) | |
Chinese | 陴 , 杆 (Railing). (various references) | |
Czech | parapet (window sill), ochranná stìna střechy, hrazení, hradba (rampart, wall). (various references) | |
Danish | tagafslutning, raekvaerk (railing), brystningsmur (parapet wall), brystning (breast, parapet wall, windowback), bande (band, bevy, blaspheme, curse, cuss, gang, swear). (various references) | |
Dutch | leuning (balustrade, banisters, prop, railing, support). (various references) | |
Esperanto | balustrado (balustrade, banisters, railing). (various references) | |
Faeroese | rimaverk (balustrade, banisters, grate, grid, grill, railing), rimagarður (balustrade, banisters, railing). (various references) | |
Farsi | محجر (Fence, Peel), نرده (Balustrade, List, Pale, Rail), سپر (Aegis, Buffer, Fence, Shield), سنگر (Blind, Citadel, Fort, Stronghold, Trench), جان پناه (Shelter, Trench, Turret), دیواره (Partition, Rim). (various references) | |
Finnish | kaide (balustrade, banisters, railing, reed). (various references) | |
French | parapet (parapet wall). (various references) | |
German | Wall (bank, bulwark, embankment, mound, rampart), Geländer (balustrade, balustrades, banister, banisters, handrail, hand-rail, rail, railing, rails), brüstung (balustrade). (various references) | |
Greek | στηθαίο (parapet wall). (various references) | |
Hebrew | מעק" (balustrade, banister, guard rail, handrail, ledge, rail, railing), פסיס (lath, slat). (various references) | |
Hungarian | mellvéd (baluster railing, balustrade, breastwork, bulwark), korlát (balustrade, banister, banisters, bar, barrier, confine, delimination, fence, handrail, rail, railing, shackle, stint), karfa (armrest, balustrade, banisters, elbow rest, guard, guard rail, handrail, rail, railing), könyöklőfal. (various references) | |
Icelandic | rimlagirðing (balustrade, banisters, railing), grindverk (balustrade, banisters, railing). (various references) | |
Italian | parapetto (balustrade, banisters, bulwark, curb, guard, rail, railing). (various references) | |
Japanese Kanji | 胸壁 (breastworks, chest walls). (various references) | |
Japanese Katakana | きょうへき (breastworks, chest walls). (various references) | |
Manx | ughtvoalley, obbyr ught. (various references) | |
Occitan | parabanda. (various references) | |
Pig Latin | arapetpay.(various references) | |
Portuguese | parapeito (breastwork, curb, mound, rail, rampart, traverse). (various references) | |
Romanian | parapet (battlement, bulwark, fence, traverse), balustradã (balustrade, handrail, rail, railing, stave). (various references) | |
Russian | парапет. (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | parapet. (various references) | |
Spanish | parapeto (breast wall, breastwork), pretil (guard rail, handrail), balaustrada (balustrade, banisters, railing). (various references) | |
Swedish | parapet (parapet wall), bröstvärn (battlement, breastwork), bröstning (apron), balustrad (balustrade, banisters, railing). (various references) | |
Turkish | siper (aegis, barricade, bulwark, casemate, dike, dyke, entrenchment, foxhole, outwork, rampart, screen, shelter, shield, splasher, trench), korkuluk (balustrade, banister, barrier, guardrail, guy, rail, railing, scarecrow), balkon duvarı. (various references) | |
Ukrainian | тротуар (banquette, causeway, footpath, footway, pavement, pediment, sidewalk, walk), бруствер (breastwork), парапет (balustrade). (various references) | |
Vietnamese | tường góc lan can, tường chân mái. (various references) | |
Welsh | canllaw (battlement, hand-rail, railing). (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Sumerian | 3100 BCE-2500 BCE | bad-si. (various references) |
| Latin | 500 BCE-Modern | lorica, loricae, loricam, loricas, loricis. (various references) |
| Middle French | 1400-1600 | parapet. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "parapet": parapeted, parapets. (additional references) | |
| |
"Parapet" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: Arapesh, papapet, paprapet, paranet, parape, parapeted, parapit, parapret, paraptera, parpare, parpet, perampam, prapet, pripet, Puraspec. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| Words rhyming with "parapet" (pronounced 'Par"a*pet'): limpet, Moppet, Pompet, Pumpet, Puppet, Scoppet, Serpet, Sippet, Skippet, snippet, Strippet, tappet, tippet, Wappet. (additional references) |
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "a-a-e-p-p-r-t" | |
-1 letter: appear, tapper. | |
-2 letters: apart, apter, paper, parae, pater, peart, prate, reata, taper. | |
-3 letters: aper, area, atap, papa, para, pare, part, pate, pear, peat, perp, pert, prat, prep, rape, rapt, rate, reap, repp, tapa, tape, tare, tarp, tear, tepa, trap. | |
-4 letters: ape, apt, are, art, ate, ear, eat, era, eta, pap, par, pat, pea, pep. | |
-5 letters: aa. | |
| Words containing the letters "a-a-e-p-p-r-t" | |
+1 letter: apparent, parapets, preadapt, tarpaper, trappean. | |
+2 letters: appertain, applecart, approbate, catnapper, parapeted, preadapts, propagate, tarpapers. | |
+3 letters: apparently, appertains, applecarts, appreciate, approbated, approbates, catnappers, inapparent, preadapted, preparator, propagated, propagates, unapparent, wastepaper. | |
+4 letters: apparatuses, appertained, appreciated, appreciates, appreciator, appropriate, approximate, appurtenant, depauperate, paratrooper, participate, preadapting, preadaptive, preparation, preparative, preparators, preparatory, propagative, strappadoes, wastepapers. | |
+5 letters: apparentness, appertaining, appraisement, appreciating, appreciation, appreciative, appreciators, appreciatory, appropriated, appropriates, approximated, approximates, appurtenance, appurtenants, inapparently, naprapathies, paratroopers, participated, participates, preparations, preparatives. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Commercial | 5. Images: Slideshow 6. Images: Photo Album 7. Quotations: Fiction 8. Usage Frequency | 9. Expressions 10. Translations: Modern 11. Translations: Ancient 12. Derivations | 13. Rhymes 14. Anagrams 15. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
