rafter B2 Topic:House & Home US /ˈɹæftəɹ/ UK /ˈɹɑːftə(ɹ)/ See IPA manual Freq #77139 Meanings 1 noun One of the sloping wooden beams that support a roof. Birds had built a nest high up among the rafters of the old barn. Thesaurus Synonyms 1 noun · one of the sloping wooden... balk Word family Forms rafters Derived forms rafterless Etymology AI details From Old English ræfter, of Germanic origin, related to the origin of raft. ræfter Old English View etymology graph -> Topics House & Home External links Cambridge Dictionary Wiktionary Google Images # rafter **Type:** Word **Level:** B2 **Part of speech:** noun **IPA (US):** /ˈɹæftəɹ/ **IPA (UK):** /ˈɹɑːftə(ɹ)/ **Frequency rank:** 77139 ## Meanings 1. One of the sloping wooden beams that support a roof. ## Examples - Birds had built a nest high up among the rafters of the old barn. ## Derived Forms - rafterless ## Roots and Affixes - Root: ræfter ## Etymology From Old English ræfter, of Germanic origin, related to the origin of raft. ## AI Etymology Rafter comes from Old English ræfter, of Germanic origin, related to the origin of raft. Modern senses include one of the sloping wooden beams that support a roof.. The wider word family includes derivatives such as rafterless. ## Topics - House & Home markdown