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mer·lon

(mûrlən)

A solid portion between two crenels in a battlement or crenelated wall.

[French, fromItalianmerlone, augmentative ofmerlo, battlement, perhaps fromMedieval Latinmerulus, fromLatin, merle (from their imagined similarity to blackbirds sitting on a wall).]

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merlon

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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