Etymology

casemate

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Today it means: A bombproof chamber, usually of masonry, in which cannons may be placed, to be fired through embrasures; or one capable of being used as a magazine, or for quartering troops. Full definition →

French casemate ← Italian casamatta ← Greek χάσματα
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The story

  1. Greek · derived fromχάσματα
  2. Italian · derived fromcasamatta
  3. French · borrowed fromcasemate
  4. English todaycasemate

From French casemate, from Italian casamatta. Further origin unclear, could be a compound casa (“house”) + matta (“mat (of straw), roof made of such material”), or borrowed from Greek χάσματα (chásmata) the plural of χάσμα (chásma, “gap”), presumably referring to the loopholes for shooting from.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.