lintel Hear it!

lintel definition

lin·tel (lin′təl)

noun

the horizontal crosspiece over an opening, as a door, window, usually carrying the weight of the structure above it

Etymology: OFr < VL *limitellus, for limitaris, altered (by assoc. with L limes, gen. limitis, border, frontier < L liminaris, of a threshold or lintel < limen: see limen

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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