brattice

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English bretage, bretace, from Old French bretesce, bretesche, breteske, from Late Latin brittisca.

noun

1. (mining) A wooden partition in a coal mine.
   A practice then prevailed of blasting without nicking the side of the place which still continues and of conducting the current of air too far by means of brattice, to both of which practices I raised a strong objection. They admitted their inability to make the men nick the coal as they formerly did and thought the application of brattice could not be properly defined, but that it should be left to the discretion of the manager of each particular mine as to the distance openings should be made apart between the intake and return air courses. 28 February 1872, Peter Higson, “[Mines. Reports of the Inspectors of Mines, to Her Majesty’s Secretary of State, for the Year 1871. Chapter 653.] Report of the Working of the Mines Inspection Act (23 & 24 Vict. c. 151.) in the West Lancashire and North Wales District, during the Year ended 31st December 1871.”, in Reports from Commissioners: Twenty-two Volumes.[…], volume XVI, London: Printed by George Edward Eyre and William Spottiswode,[…], for Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, →OCLC, page 58
2. (historical) A wooden structure used for attack or defence, such as an archery tower, or a penthouse built over the entry to a castle for archers to shoot from.
   Coordinate term: hoard
   […] When a breach was made in the castle wall, a brattice could be built within to serve as a new temporary defence. 2016, Peter Connolly, John Gillingham, John Lazenby, The Hutchinson Dictionary of Ancient and Medieval Warfare, Routledge

verb

1. (transitive) To divide into partitions of this kind.