Dictionary Definition
turret
Noun
1 a small tower extending above a building
2 a self-contained weapons platform housing guns
and capable of rotation [syn: gun
enclosure, gun
turret]
User Contributed Dictionary
English
Pronunciation
- tŭr'ət, /ˈtʌrət/, /"tVr@t/
Etymology
From Old English touret, Old French tourette, diminutive of tour a tower, Latin turris. See towerNoun
- A little tower, frequently a merely ornamental structure at one of the corners of a building or castle.
- historical military A movable building, of a square form, consisting of ten or even twenty stories and sometimes one hundred and twenty cubits high, usually moved on wheels, and employed in approaching a fortified place, for carrying soldiers, engines, ladders, casting bridges, and other necessaries.
- An armoured, rotating gun installation, on a fort, ship, aircraft, or armoured fighting vehicle.
- (Railroads) The elevated central portion of the roof of a passenger car. Its sides are pierced for light and ventilation.
Translations
A little tower
A movable building
A revolving tower constructed of thick iron
plates
- Finnish: tykkitorni
The elevated central portion of the roof of a
passenger car
Derived terms
Extensive Definition
In architecture, a turret
(from Italian:
torretta, little tower; Latin: turris, tower)
is a small tower that
projects from the wall of a building such as a medieval castle. Turrets were used to
provide a projecting defensive position allowing covering fire to
the adjacent wall in the days of military fortification. As their
military use faded, turrets were adopted for decorative purposes,
as in the Scottish
baronial style.
A turret might have a flat top with crenellations as in the
picture at right, a pointed roof, or any other kind of top. It
might contain a staircase if it projects higher than the building.
However, a turret might not be any higher than the rest of the
building; in this case it is part of a room, that can be simply
walked into – see the turret of Chateau de Chaumont on
this collection of
turrets, which also illustrates a turret on a modern
skyscraper.
A building may have both towers and turrets; turrets might
be smaller or higher but the difference is generally considered to
be that a turret projects from the edge of the building, rather
than continuing to the ground. The size of a turret is therefore
limited by technology, since it puts additional stresses on the
structure of the building. It would traditionally be supported by a
corbel.
See also
- Yagura, a Japanese type of turret
- Fortification
turret in German: Tourelle
turret in French: Poivrière (architecture)
turret in Macedonian: Торета
Gallery
Synonyms, Antonyms and Related Words
antenna tower, barbican, belfry, bell tower, campanile, colossus, column, cupola, derrick, dome, fire tower, lantern, lighthouse, martello, martello tower,
mast, minaret, monument, obelisk, observation tower,
pagoda, pilaster, pillar, pinnacle, pole, pylon, pyramid, shaft, skyscraper, spire, standpipe, steeple, stupa, television mast, tope, tour, tower, water tower, windmill
tower