battlement

noun

1. Often battlements. a parapet or cresting, originally defensive but later usually decorative, consisting of a regular alternation of merlons and crenels; crenelation.

noun

1. a parapet or wall with indentations or embrasures, originally for shooting through

n.

early 14c., from Old French bataillement, earlier bastillement “fortification,” from bastillier “to fortify, to equip with battlements,” from bastille “fortress, tower” (see bastion). The raised parts are cops or merlons; the indentations are embrasures or crenelles.