abatis

See also: Abatis and abatís

English

Drawing of an abatis.

Alternative forms

• abattis

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈæb.əˌtiː/
• IPA^(key): /ˈæb.əˌti/, /ˈæb.ə.tɪs/

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 19^th century.]
2. In the middle ages, an officer of the stables who had the care of measuring out the provender; an avenor.
3. In fortification, a barricade made of felled trees denuded of their smaller branches, with the butt-ends of the trunks embedded in the earth or secured by pickets, and the sharpened ends of the branches directed upward and outward toward an advancing enemy, for the purpose of obstructing his progress. In field-fortifications the abatis is usually constructed in front of the ditch. See fortification.
4. In coal-mining, walls of cord-wood piled up crosswise to keep the underground roads open so as to secure ventilation.

References

• 1889 Century Dictionary, volume 1 page 5

Translations

means of defense

• Arabic: حِظَار m (ḥiẓār)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 鹿砦／鹿寨 (zh) (lùzhài)

• Danish: forhugning c
• Dutch: verhakking m, prikkeldraadversperring m
• Finnish: murros, rytövarustus
• Ido: abatajaro (io)
• Irish: leagarnach
• Japanese: 鹿砦 (ろくさい, rokusai), 逆茂木 (さかもぎ, sakamogi)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: forhugning (no) m or f

• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Polish: zasiek (pl) m
• Portuguese: abatis m
• Romanian: abatiză (ro) f
• Russian: ^{(please verify)} засе́чная черта́ f (zaséčnaja čertá) , засе́ка (ru) f (zaséka)
• Swedish: förhuggning c, hinder (sv) n
• Tamil: மரக்கிளை அரண் (ta) (marakkiḷai araṇ)
• Vietnamese: ^{(please verify)} đống cây chướng ngại , ^{(please verify)} đống cây cản (vi)

Anagrams

• Bastia, tabias

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Catalan

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central) [əˈβa.tis]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [əˈba.tis]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [aˈba.tis]

Verb

abatis

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Ido

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /aˈbatis/

Verb

(deprecated template usage) abatis

1. past of abatar

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Portuguese

Noun

abatis m (plural abatises)

1. abatis (fortification formed by felled trees with sharpened branches)