Editing Moat (section)

===Medieval===
[[File:Castle moat and watermill Steinfurt.jpg|thumb|A medieval moat castle in [[Steinfurt]], Germany]]

Moats were excavated around [[castle]]s and other fortifications as part of the defensive system as an obstacle immediately outside the [[Defensive wall|walls]]. In suitable locations, they might be filled with water. A moat made access to the walls difficult for siege weapons such as [[siege tower]]s and [[battering ram]]s, which needed to be brought up against a wall to be effective. A water-filled moat made the practice of [[Mining (military)|mining]] – digging tunnels under the castles in order to effect a collapse of the defences – very difficult as well. ''Segmented moats'' have one dry section and one section filled with water. Dry moats that cut across the narrow part of a spur or peninsula are called ''[[neck ditch]]es''. Moats separating different elements of a castle, such as the inner and outer wards, are ''cross ditches''.{{cn|date=January 2025}}

The word was adapted in [[Middle English]] from the [[Old French]] {{lang|fro|motte}} ({{lit|mound, hillock}}) and was first applied to the central mound on which a castle was erected (see [[Motte and bailey]]) and then came to be applied to the excavated ring, a 'dry moat'. The shared derivation implies that the two features were closely related and possibly constructed at the same time.<ref>{{cite book |last=Friar |first=Stephen |year=2003 |title=The Sutton Companion to Castles |page=214 |publisher=Sutton Publishing |location=Stroud |isbn=978-0-7509-3994-2}}</ref> The term ''moat'' is also applied to natural formations reminiscent of the artificial structure and to similar modern architectural features.{{cn|date=January 2025}}