A turret is a small tower that sticks out from a larger building, such as a castle or fortress. In modern use, it can also mean a rotating gun mount on a tank, ship, or aircraft.
From Old French "tourette," a diminutive of "tour" meaning tower, from Latin "turris." It has always referred to a smaller, secondary tower structure.
Fairytale castles and military tanks both use turrets, but one is for princesses and the other for guns—the shape is the same, the purpose totally changed. The word simply means "little tower," whether it’s in stone or steel.
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