From Old French 'tourete,' diminutive of 'tour' (tower) — literally 'little tower,' from Latin 'turris.'
A small tower, especially one forming part of a larger structure such as a castle or building, typically projecting from the wall at a corner or above the roofline.
From Old French 'tourete' or 'turette,' diminutive of 'tour' (a tower), from Latin 'turris' (a tower, a high fortified structure), from Greek 'turris' or 'tursis' (a tower), probably borrowed from a pre-Greek or Eastern Mediterranean language — possibly related to Hebrew 'tirah' (a castle, an encampment) or an Anatolian source. The diminutive suffix '-ette' indicates a small tower, and the word entered English during the era of castle-building following the Norman Conquest. Key roots: turris (Greek
Both 'turret' and 'tower' descend from the same Latin word 'turris,' but they entered English by different routes: 'tower' came early (via Old English and Old French 'tur') and lost the diminutive, while 'turret' came later (via the Old French diminutive 'tourete') and kept it. They are etymological siblings where the younger one has always been the smaller.