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A casemate, sometimes erroneously rendered casement, is a fortified gun emplacement or armored structure from which guns are fired.〔Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary〕 Originally, the term referred to a vaulted chamber in a fortress. In armoured fighting vehicles that do not have a turret for the main gun, the structure that accommodates the gun is termed the casemate. ==Origin of the term== The word comes from the Italian ''casamatta'',〔 the etymology of which is uncertain. Some theorize that ''casamatta'' comes from ''casa'', Italian for ''house'', and ''matto'', Italian for ''mad'', but in this case meaning ''fake''; ''casamatta'' seems to have been a common nickname given to a medieval siege machine called gatta, which had the appearance of a house.〔(Etimo.it )〕 Others (Devic) think that it comes from the Arabic word ''kasaba'', transliterated to kasbah, the word that originated the Spanish word for fortress: ''alcazaba''.〔 Menagio theorised it came from the Greek word for pit, ''khasma'', the plural of which is ''khasmata''.〔 Hensleigh Wedgwood thought that it came from the Spanish ''casa'' and ''matar'', making a casemate ''a house in which killing happens''. Others take ''matto'' in its archaic Italian meaning of ''dark'', equivalent to the English ''matt'', as in ''opaque'', making a ''casamatta'' a ''dark house''. ''Casematte'' were also used as military prisons, making use of their lack of light to add to the punishment. This explanation seems to be the most agreed upon.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Casemate」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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