tenon

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a projecting piece cut at the end of a length of wood and shaped to fit into a corresponding mortise to form a joint

   The carpenter fitted the rail's tenon tightly into the mortise in the post.

2. 2
   verb

   to cut a tenon on something or join pieces by means of tenons

   Each beam was carefully tenoned before the frame was raised.

From Middle English tenoun and Anglo-Norman or Old French tenon, related to tenir, 'to hold,' from Latin tenere. The name reflects the way the projecting piece holds two members of a wooden frame together when inserted into a mortise.

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