Barbican

[1] In the 15th century, with the improvement in siege tactics and artillery, barbicans lost their significance.

Fortified or mock-fortified gatehouses remained a feature of ambitious French and English residences well into the 17th century.

[3] The origin of the English word barbican is thought to be found in either Persian or Arabic (see here or here).

Paul Deschamps (1888–1974) interpreted the Arabic word 'bashura[h]' as used in 13th-century chronicles to mean barbican, a defensive structure placed ahead of a gate but this has been debunked, 'bashura' denoting rather an entire section of the outer fortifications, which may include a barbican but also a bastion, gate, tower or all of these.

[4][5] Barbicans were also used in South Asian fortifications where some of their purposes were to protect the main gate from being rammed by war elephants.