GLACIS  , in military See also:

• ENGINEERING

engineering (see FORTIFICATION AND SIEGECRAFT), an artificial slope of See also:

• EARTH
• EARTH (a word common to Teutonic languages, cf. Ger. Erde, Dutch aarde, Swed. and Dan. jord; outside Teutonic it appears only in the Gr. 'pq'e, on the ground; it has been connected by some etymologists with the Aryan root ar-, to plough, which is seen in
• EARTH, FIGURE OF
• EARTH, FIGURE OF THE

earth in the front of See also:

• WORKS

works, so constructed as to keep an assailant under the See also:

• FIRE (in O. Eng. f j'r; the word is common to West German languages, cf. Dutch vuur, Ger. Feuer; the pre-Teutonic form is seen in Sanskrit pu, pavaka, and Gr. irup; the ultimate origin is usually taken to be a root meaning to purify, cf. Lat. purus)

fire of the defenders to the last possible moment . On the natural ground-level, troops attacking any high See also:

• WORK

work would be sheltered from its fire when See also:

• CLOSE
• CLOSE (from Lat. clausum, shut)
• CLOSE, MAXWELL HENRY (1822-1903)

close up to it; the ground therefore is raised to See also:

• FORM (Lat. forma)

form a glacis, which is swept by the fire of the See also:

• PARAPET (Ital. parapetto, Fr. parapet, from para, imperative of Ital. porare, to cover, defend, and petto, breast, Lat. pectus; the German word is Brustwehr)

parapet . More generally, the See also:

• TERM

term is used to denote any slope, natural or artificial, which fulfils the above requirements .