postern
See also: Postern
English
Etymology
From Old French posterne, alteration of posterle, from Late Latin posterula (“back door”), from Latin posterus (“later”).
Pronunciation
- (UK) IPA(key): /ˈpɒst(ə)n/
Audio (Southern England) (file)
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈpɑstɚn/
Noun
postern (plural posterns)
- A back gate, back door, side entrance, or other gateway distinct from the main entrance.
- 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, “ij”, in Le Morte Darthur, book XII:
- And as they cam hurlyng vnder the Castel where as sir launcelot lay in wyndowe / & sawe how two knyghtes layd vpon syr Blyaunt with their swerdes / […] / And thenne sir launcelot brake the chaynes fro his legges and of his armes / […] / & so sir launcelot ran out at a posterne / and there he mett with the two knyȝtes that chaced sir Blyaunt
- (please add an English translation of this quotation)
- 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto VI”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 52:
- He by a privy postern took his flight.
- c. 1590–1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Two Gentlemen of Verona”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i]:
- Out at the postern, by the abbey wall.
- (archaic) By extension, a separate or hidden way in or out of a place, situation etc.
- (historical, military) A subterranean passage communicating between the parade and the main ditch, or between the ditches and the interior of the outworks.
- 1850, Dennis Hart Mahan, Summary of the Course of Permanent Fortification and of the Attack and Defence of Permanent Works:
- The postern of the enceinte leads through the middle of the curtain, descending from the plane of sight to the ditch
Translations
secondary gateway
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Adjective
postern (comparative more postern, superlative most postern)
- Situated at the rear; posterior.
Translations
See also
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