barbette

English

Gun Diagram (barbette #8)

Etymology

Borrowed from French barbette.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /bɑːˈbɛt/
• Rhymes: -ɛt

Noun

barbette (plural barbettes)

1. A mound of earth or a platform in a fortification, on which guns are mounted to fire over the parapet.
   • 1990, Peter Hopkirk, The Great Game, Folio Society, published 2010, page 276:

     Cleverly camouflaged with grey felt, which exactly matched the colour of the walls, it led upwards to a barbette, or platform, perched beside the gate.

2. (nautical) The inside fixed trunk of a warship's gun-mounting, on which the turret revolves. It contains the hoists for shells and cordite from the shell-room and magazine.
   • 1899, John Scott-Keltie, editor, Statesman's Year-Book 1899:

     The belted cruiser Pamiat Azova or Remembrance of Azoff, is 377 feet long. She is an improved Dmitri Dontskoi, and carries her two 8-inch guns in sponsoned barbettes on either broadside

Derived terms

• barbette carriage
• barbette gun
• en barbette, in barbette

Descendants

• → Irish: bairbéad

French

Etymology

From barbe +‎ -ette.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /baʁ.bɛt/

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

barbette f (plural barbettes)

1. (obsolete) small beard
2. (archaic) cowl
3. (fortifications) barbette

Descendants

• → Czech: barbeta
• → English: barbette
  • → Irish: bairbéad
• → Portuguese: barbeta, barbete
• → Spanish: barbeta

Further reading

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

Italian

Noun

barbette f

1. plural of barbetta