A type of overlapping roof tile or shingle, similar to fish scales or roof tiles arranged in an overlapping pattern.
From Latin 'imbrex' (roof tile), itself derived from 'imber' (rain). The term describes the practical overlapping arrangement that directs water away, a design perfected by Romans.
Roman roof tiles that overlap like fish scales were so effective at shedding water that this exact pattern is still used in roofing today—it's been optimized over 2,000 years because physics doesn't change.
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