- a lining or paneling, usually of wood, on the walls of a room; now, usually, a wood paneling on the lower part of the walls only
- the lower part of the walls of a room when finished differently from the upper part
Origin of wainscot
Middle English waynescote from Middle Dutch wagenschot, wainscot, as if from wagen (see wain), but probably from base akin to Old Saxon weg, Old English wag, wall, origin, originally woven work ( from Indo-European base an unverified form wei- from source withe) + schot, a board, pale, probably from or akin to Frankish an unverified form skot-, a sprout: for Indo-European base see shoottransitive verb
-·scot·ed or -·scot·ted, -·scot·ing or -·scot·ting to line (a wall or room) with wainscot
