barbican, barbacan
(noun) a tower that is part of a defensive structure (such as a castle)
Source: WordNet® 3.1
barbican (plural barbicans)
A tower at the entrance to a castle or fortified town
A fortress at the end of a bridge.
An opening in the wall of a fortress through which the guns are levelled; a narrow loophole through which arrows and other missiles may be shot.
A temporary wooden tower built for defensive purposes.
• (entryway fortification): see guardhouse
Source: Wiktionary
Bar"bi*can, Bar"ba*can, n. Etym: [OE. barbican, barbecan, F. barbacane, LL. barbacana, barbicana, of uncertain origin: cf. Ar. barbakh aqueduct, sewer. F. barbacane also means, an opening to let out water, loophole.]
1. ( Fort.) A tower or advanced work defending the entrance to a castle or city, as at a gate or bridge. It was often large and strong, having a ditch and drawbridge of its own.
2. An opening in the wall of a fortress, through which missiles were discharged upon an enemy.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
30 April 2024
(verb) treat carefully; “He nursed his injured back by lying in bed several hours every afternoon”; “He nursed the flowers in his garden and fertilized them regularly”
The earliest credible evidence of coffee-drinking as the modern beverage appeared in modern-day Yemen. In the middle of the 15th century in Sufi shrines where coffee seeds were first roasted and brewed for drinking. The Yemenis procured the coffee beans from the Ethiopian Highlands.
