glacis

Meanings

1. A gentle incline.
2. A gentle sloping landform created by the deposition or erosion of material.
3. A gentle incline in front of a fortification which protects it from cannon fire and exposes attackers to more effective return fire from defenders.
4. In full glacis plate: the angled armour plate on the front of a tank which protects it from projectiles; also (often nautical), such a plate protecting an opening (for example, on a ship).
5. A device for sorting mail which slides parcels across a sloped surface.

1. An administrative district of Seychelles.

Etymology

Borrowed from French glacis (“slippery surface”), derived from Old French glacier (“to glide; freeze”), the former from Latin glaciāre (“to freeze”), from glaciēs (“ice”), of uncertain origin. Cognates * Medieval Latin glatia (“incline in front of a fortification”)

Translations