Also 7 cremelina, 8 kremelin, 9 kremle. [a. F. kremlin, f. Russ. кремлъ kreml citadel, of Tartar origin.] The citadel or fortified enclosure within a Russian town or city; esp. that of Moscow, which contains the imperial palace and various public buildings.
1662. J. Davies, trans. Olearius’ Voy. Ambass., 57. The Great Duke’s Palace, called Cremelena, and which is of greater extent than many other ordinary Cities.
1698. A. Brand, Emb. Muscovy to China, 5. The Castle, called Cremelina, where the Czars of Muscovy keep their ordinary Residence.
1796. Morse, Amer. Geog., II. 91. It stands in the Kremelin, one of the interior circles of the city.
1833. R. Pinkerton, Russia, 227. The inhabitants of Moscow being assembled in the Kremlin.
1839. E. D. Clarke, Trav. Russia, 38/1. The Kremle is derived from the Tartar word krim, or krem, which signifies a fortress.
1888. G. Kennan, in Century Mag., May, 10/1, note. A Kremlin, or, to use the Russian form of the word, a ‘Kremle,’ is merely a walled inclosure with towers at the corners, situated in a commanding position near the center of a city.
