A covered passage or communication trench in a fortification, designed to provide protected movement and gunfire across a ditch or between defensive positions.
From French 'caponnière', possibly from 'capon' (a castrated rooster) or from a Scandinavian military term, referring to a defensive structure.
Caponiers were genius medieval engineering—they let soldiers move and shoot while staying hidden, turning fortress ditches into killing zones where attackers couldn't hide.
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