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Merlon
 
 
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A merlon, in architecture
Architecture

The term architecture can refer to a process, a profession or documentation.As a process, architecture is the activity of designing and construction buildings and other physical structures by a person or a computer, primarily to provide shelter....
, forms the solid part of an embattled
Battlement

A battlement, in defensive architecture such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet , in which portions have been cut out at intervals to allow the discharge of arrows or other missiles....
 parapet
Parapet

A parapet is a wall-like barrier at the edge of a roof or architectural structure. It may serve to prevent unwanted falls over the edge or it may be a defensive, constructional or stylistic feature....
, sometimes pierced by embrasure
Embrasure

The term embrasure, in military architecture, refers to the opening in a crenellation or battlement between the two raised solid portions or merlons, sometimes called a crenel or crenelle....
s.

The word comes from the French language
French language

French is a Romance language spoken around the world by around 80 million people as first language, by 190 million as second language, and by about another 200 million people as an acquired tongue, with significant speakers in 54 countries....
, adapted from the Italian
Italian language

Italian is a Romance languages spoken by about 63 million people as a first language, primarily in Italy. In Switzerland, Italian is one of four Linguistic geography of Switzerlands....
 merlone, possibly a shortened form of mergola, connected with Latin
Latin

Latin is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Military history of the Roman Empire, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe....
 mergae (pitchfork
Pitchfork

A pitchfork is an agricultural tool with a long handle and long, thin, widely separated pointed tines used to lift and pitch loose material, such as hay, leaf, grapes, dung or other agricultural materials....
), or from a diminutive moerulus, from murus or moerus (a wall
Wall

A wall is a usually solid structure that defines and sometimes protects an area. Most commonly, a wall delineates a building and supports its superstructure, separates space in buildings into Room s, or protects or delineates a space in the open air....
).






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Castello Di St
A merlon, in architecture
Architecture

The term architecture can refer to a process, a profession or documentation.As a process, architecture is the activity of designing and construction buildings and other physical structures by a person or a computer, primarily to provide shelter....
, forms the solid part of an embattled
Battlement

A battlement, in defensive architecture such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet , in which portions have been cut out at intervals to allow the discharge of arrows or other missiles....
 parapet
Parapet

A parapet is a wall-like barrier at the edge of a roof or architectural structure. It may serve to prevent unwanted falls over the edge or it may be a defensive, constructional or stylistic feature....
, sometimes pierced by embrasure
Embrasure

The term embrasure, in military architecture, refers to the opening in a crenellation or battlement between the two raised solid portions or merlons, sometimes called a crenel or crenelle....
s.

The word comes from the French language
French language

French is a Romance language spoken around the world by around 80 million people as first language, by 190 million as second language, and by about another 200 million people as an acquired tongue, with significant speakers in 54 countries....
, adapted from the Italian
Italian language

Italian is a Romance languages spoken by about 63 million people as a first language, primarily in Italy. In Switzerland, Italian is one of four Linguistic geography of Switzerlands....
 merlone, possibly a shortened form of mergola, connected with Latin
Latin

Latin is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Military history of the Roman Empire, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe....
 mergae (pitchfork
Pitchfork

A pitchfork is an agricultural tool with a long handle and long, thin, widely separated pointed tines used to lift and pitch loose material, such as hay, leaf, grapes, dung or other agricultural materials....
), or from a diminutive moerulus, from murus or moerus (a wall
Wall

A wall is a usually solid structure that defines and sometimes protects an area. Most commonly, a wall delineates a building and supports its superstructure, separates space in buildings into Room s, or protects or delineates a space in the open air....
). An alternative etymology
Etymology

Etymology is the study of the roots and history of words; and how their form and meaning have changed over time.In languages with a long detailed history, etymology makes use of philology, the study of how words change from culture to culture over time....
 suggests that the medieval Latin merulus (mentioned from the end of the 10th century) functioned as a diminutive of Latin merle, expressing an image of blackbird
Blackbird

The Common Blackbird , also called Eurasian Blackbird, or simply Blackbird is a species of true thrush which breeds in Europe, Asia, and North Africa, and has been introduced species to Australia and New Zealand....
s sitting on a wall. As an essential part of battlements, merlons were used in fortifications for millennia. The best-known examples appear on mediaeval buildings, where battlements were often used as much for decoration as for defensive purposes. The two most notable European variants in Middle Ages merlons shape were the Ghibelline and the Guelph
Guelphs and Ghibellines

The Guelphs and Ghibellines were Political factions supporting, respectively, the Pope and the Holy Roman Emperor in central and northern Italy during the 12th and 13th centuries....
 merlon: the former ended in the upper part with a swallow-tailed form, while the latter term indicates the normal rectangular shape merlons (wimperg
Wimperg

A wimperg is a German and Dutch word for a Gothic ornamental gable with tracery over windows or Portal s, which were often accompanied with pinnacles....
). Other shapes include: three-pointed, quatrefoil
Quatrefoil

File:Quatrefoil, St. Guthlac, Croyland Abbey.JPGThe word quatrefoil etymologically means "four leaves", and applies to general four-lobed shapes in various contexts....
, shielded, flower-like, rounded (typical of Islamic and African world), pyramidal, etc., depending either from the type of attacks expected or the decoration desires.

In Roman times, the merlons had a width sufficient for a single man sheltering. As new weapons appeared in the Middle Ages (including crossbow
Crossbow

A crossbow is a weapon consisting of a Bow mounted on a stock that shoots projectiles, often called bolts. The medieval crossbow was called by many names, most of which derived from the word Ballista, a siege engine resembling a crossbow in mechanism and appearance....
s and the first firearms), the merlons were enlarged and provided with loop-holes of various dimensions and shapes, varying from simply rounded to cruciform. From the 13th century, the merlons could be also used to pivot wooden shutters: these added further protection for the defenders when not firing. The shutters (also known as "mantlets") could be opened by hand, or by using a pulley
Pulley

A pulley is a mechanism composed of a wheel with a Groove between two flanges around the wheel's circumference. A rope, cable or belt usually runs inside the groove....
.

After falling out of favour when the invention of cannon forced buildings to take a much lower profile, they re-emerged as decorative features in buildings constructed in the neo-Gothic style of the 19th century.