EMBRASURE
, in Architecture, an enlargement of the aperture or opening of a door, or window, within side the wall, sloping back inwards, to give the greater play for the opening of the door, casement, &c, or to take in the more light.
Embrasures, in Fortification, are the apertures or holes through which the cannon are pointed, whether in casemates, batteries, or in the parapets of walls. In the navy, these are called port-holes. The Embrasures are placed 12 or 15 feet apart from each other; being made sloping or opening outwards, from 6 to 9 feet wide on the outside of the wall, and from 2 to 3 within, to allow the gun to traverse from side to side. Their base is about 2 1/2 or 3 feet above the platform on the inside of the wall, but sloping down outwards, so as to be only about 1 1/2 above it on the outside; in order that the muzzle on occasion may be depressed, and so the gun shoot low, or downwards.
EMERGENT Year, in Chronology, is the epoch, or date, from whence any people begin to compute their time or dates. So, our Emergent year is sometimes the year of the creation, but more usually the year of the birth of Christ. The Jews used that of the Deluge, or the Exodus, &c. The Emergent year of the Greeks, was the beginning of the Olympic games; while that of the Romans was the date of the building of their city.
