# merlon

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈmɜːlən/

## Definitions
1. Any of the upright projections between the embrasures of a battlement, originally for archers to shield behind while shooting arrows over the embrasures, or through loopholes in the merlons.

## Etymology
Borrowed from French merlon, from Italian merlone (“merlon”), from merlo (“merlon”) + -one (suffix forming augmentatives). Merlo is derived from Late Latin merulus, merlus, possibly from Latin merula (“blackbird”) (as merlons resemble a row of birds perched on a wall), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ems- (“black; blackbird”). The English word is cognate with Italian mergolo (“battlement; pinnacle”), Portuguese merlão, Spanish merlón (“merlon”).

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/merlon