ceiling

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈsiːlɪŋ/ (UK); /ˈsilɪŋ/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English celynge, from the verb ceil, to cover or panel, and -ing.^[2][3][4][5] Ceil is from Middle French celer, cieler,^[3][2] which Etymonline takes from Latin cēlāre (“to hide”), probably influenced by Latin caelum, heaven, sky,^[2][6] while Barnhart derives it from ciel, canopy, sky, from caelum (“sky”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The act of lining or panelling a room: 1347–48, the mid-14th century in Etymonline;^[3][2] the panelling itself about 1380.^[3][7]

Semantic evolution

Word Origins notes that the -ing ending reflects that it was originally an action.^[6] The wooden lining of walls led to lath-and-plaster work,^[2] and the overhead surface of a room is from 1535, in Coverdale's Bible;^[3][7] by the late 19th century the sense wainscoting survived only in provincial English.^[2] In aviation, the maximum height an aircraft can reach, and an upper limit set on prices or wages (1934), are 20th-century senses.^[8][2] Hit the ceiling, to lose one's temper, is by 1908,^[2] and glass ceiling, an invisible barrier to women's advancement, from 1988.^[2]

Timeline

• 1347 – panelling a room.^[3]
• c. 1380 – panelling.^[3][7]
• 1535 – the top of a room.^[3]
• 1908 – hit the ceiling.^[2]
• 1934 – an upper limit.^[2]
• 1988 – glass ceiling.^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The upper inside surface of a room.
2. An upper limit, as on prices or wages.
3. The maximum height at which an aircraft can fly.
4. The height of the cloud base above the ground.

Word family

• ceilinged
• ceil
• subceiling
• absolute ceiling
• cathedral ceiling
• glass ceiling

Related words

• celestial
• conceal
• cell

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin