enfilade

views updated May 18 2018

enfilade †suite of apartments, the doors of which are placed opposite to each other; fire sweeping a line of works or troops from one end to the other. XVIII. — F., f. enfiler thread on a string, f. EN-1 + fil FILE2; see -ADE.

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology T. F. HOAD

Enfilade

views updated Jun 11 2018

Enfilade

ENFILADE. A fire from small arms or artillery that sweeps a line of men or defensive works from end to end, as opposed to "frontal fire." Rake is the naval equivalent.

SEE ALSO Rake.

Encyclopedia of the American Revolution: Library of Military History

enfilade

views updated Jun 08 2018

enfilade. French Baroque alignment of all the doorways in a series or suite of rooms so as to create a vista when the doors were open, as in a palace. Doorways were usually placed near the window-walls. The system avoided corridors, any privacy required being provided by e.g. the hangings around a bed.

A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture JAMES STEVENS CURL