Bartisan
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A parapet with battlements projecting from the top of a tower in a castle or church.
"she soon found it had no communication with any other part of the battlements, being an isolated bartisan, or balcony, secured, as usual, by a parapet, with embrasures, at which a few archers might be stationed for defending the turret, and flanking with their shot the wall of the castle on that side."
Example
More examples"she soon found it had no communication with any other part of the battlements, being an isolated bartisan, or balcony, secured, as usual, by a parapet, with embrasures, at which a few archers might be stationed for defending the turret, and flanking with their shot the wall of the castle on that side."
Etymology
Borrowed by the Scottish novelist Walter Scott (see quotation) from Middle Scots bartisan, variant of bartising, from Middle English bretasynge. Doublet of bratticing.
More for "bartisan"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.