bailey
n. countablen. the outer wall of a castle or the open space inside those walls. It was a safe area where people lived and worked during the Middle Ages.
n. the outermost defensive wall of a castle or the courtyard area contained within such walls. Often used in the context of 'motte-and-bailey' fortifications to describe the residential and economic enclosure.
The soldiers gathered in the bailey before the battle.
Visitors can walk through the inner bailey to see where the medieval kitchens and stables once stood.
The motte-and-bailey design provided a dual-layered defense, allowing the inhabitants to retreat from the lower courtyard to the high mound if the outer palisade was breached.
(English topographic surname): See bailey (“outer castle wall”)
Commonly appears in the compound term 'motte-and-bailey'.