casemate

From French casemate, from Italian casamatta. Further origin unclear, could be a compound casa (“house”) +‎ matta (“mat (of straw), roof made of such material”), or borrowed from Greek χάσματα (chásmata) the plural of χάσμα (chásma, “gap”), presumably referring to the loopholes for shooting from.^[1]

• IPA^(key): /ˈkeɪsmeɪt/

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casemate (plural casemates)

1. (military) A bombproof chamber, usually of masonry, in which cannon may be placed, to be fired through embrasures; or one capable of being used as a magazine, or for quartering troops.
2. (architecture) A hollow molding, chiefly in cornices.

• “casemate”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

• meatcase

Borrowed from Italian casamatta.

• IPA^(key): /kaz.mat/

• Audio:

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casemate f (plural casemates)

1. pillbox, blockhouse

• “casemate”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.