sill
pronunciation
How to pronounce sill in British English:
UK [sɪl]
How to pronounce sill in American English:
US [sɪl]
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- Noun:
- structural member consisting of a continuous horizontal timber forming the lowest member of a framework or supporting structure
- (geology) a flat (usually horizontal) mass of igneous rock between two layers of older sedimentary rock
Word Origin
- sill
- sill: [OE] Sill originally denoted the ‘foundation of a wall’. Not until the 15th century was it used for the ‘base of a window-frame’. It is related to German schwelle ‘threshold’ and possibly also to English sole ‘underside of the foot’.
- sill (n.)
- Old English syll "beam, threshold, large timber serving as a foundation of a wall," from Proto-Germanic *suljo (cognates: Old Norse svill, Swedish syll, Danish syld "framework of a building," Middle Low German sull, Old High German swelli, German Schwelle "sill"), perhaps from PIE root *swel- (3) "post, board" (cognates: Greek selma "beam"). Meaning "lower horizontal part of a window opening" is recorded from early 15c.
Example
- 1. I leave the pots on a sunny window sill .
- 2. The lonely time sill always look back .
- 3. That government sill didn 't answer their hopes .
- 4. Unscrew lower fastening screws for the door sill .
- 5. In doing this project , I bashed my head on a window sill and have a dent in my forehead .