crémaillère

English

Etymology

Borrowed from French crémaillère.

Noun

crémaillère (plural crémaillères)

1. An indented or zigzagging line of entrenchment used in fortification.

References

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

French

Alternative forms

• cramaillère, cramaillier (archaic)

Etymology

From Old French cramail +‎ -ière, from Latin cramalius, cramalium, cramaculus, cramaculum (“trammel”), alteration of cremasculus, cremasculum (“trammel”), diminutive of cremaster from Ancient Greek κρεμαστήρ (kremastḗr).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kʁe.ma.jɛʁ/

• Audio:

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• Audio (France (Vosges)):

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Noun

crémaillère f (plural crémaillères)

1. trammel; a type of hook from which a cooking pot can be suspended over a hearth fire at different heights as needed for the right cooking temperature
2. (rail transport) rack, rack-and-pinion
3. (military) crémaillère (indented or zigzagging line of entrenchment used in fortification)
4. ellipsis of pendaison de crémaillère; housewarming

Derived terms

• pendaison de crémaillère
• pendre la crémaillère

Descendants

• → Catalan: cremallera
• → English: crémaillère
• → Portuguese: cremalheira
• → Spanish: cremallera

Further reading

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