transom English · revision 1143

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈtɹæn.səm/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It comes from Middle English ''transyn'', ''traunsom'',^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) probably an alteration of [[la|transtrum|t=crossbeam]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) from ''trāns'' “across” with an instrumental suffix.^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) Merriam-Webster and Random House instead take it from Old French ''traversain'' “set crosswise”, related to [[traverse]], altered by association with ''trans-''.^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A crossbeam spanning an opening; a [[lintel]] (1388 in Barnhart; mid-14th century in Etymonline; 1487–8 in the OED).^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ By about 1500 the word was used for the horizontal bar of wood or stone across a window,^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) and later for the crossbar separating a door from a window above it.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) The small window over a door was a ''transom'' from 1844, short for ''transom window''.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) It also had technical senses in shipbuilding, for the beams forming a ship's stern,^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) and in gunnery and carpentry.^(Etymonline) A manuscript sent ''over the transom'' is one submitted unsolicited.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1388 – ''transeyn'', a crossbeam or lintel.^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1462 – ''traunsom''.^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1502 – a horizontal bar across a window.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1615 – the top beam of a gallows.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1844 – a window above a door.^(Barnhart 1995)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A horizontal crosspiece over a door, or between a door and a window above it.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A small hinged window above a door or another window.^(AHD)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A horizontal bar of wood or stone dividing a window; a [[lintel]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Any of the transverse beams fixed to the [[sternpost]] of a ship; also the flat [[stern]] of a boat.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # The horizontal bar of a cross or [[gallows]].^(MW Collegiate)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[transomed]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[trestle]]

+ * [[traverse]]

+ * [[lintel]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}