mortise

English

Etymology

First attested circa fourteenth century, from Old French mortaise, of uncertain origin.

Pronunciation

• enPR: [môrtĭs]

Alternative forms

• mortice

Noun

mortise (plural mortises)

1. (woodworking) A hole that is made to receive a tenon so as to form a joint

See also

• mortise-and-tenon joint

Translations

a hole for a tenon

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 榫眼 (cmn) (sǔnyǎn)

• Finnish: reikä (fi), kolo (fi)
• French: mortaise (fr) f

• German: Einsteckschloss (de) n, Zapfenloch (de) n
• Japanese: ほぞ穴 (ja) (hozoana)
• Russian: выемка (ru) (výjemka) f , паз (ru) (páz) m , гнездо (ru) (gnezdó) n , вырез (ru) (výrez) m , прорезь (ru) (prórezʹ) f 

Verb

mortise (third-person singular simple present mortises, present participle mortising, simple past and past participle mortised)

1. (woodworking) To make a mortise.
2. (typography) To adjust the horizontal space between selected pairs of letters; to kern.

Anagrams

• erotism, moister