infangenethef the right to confiscate the belongings of a convicted thief.
leirwite a fine given a single woman for sexual indiscretions.
manor a lord's estate, including those portions cultivated by tenants.
merchet a serf's payment for a daughter's marriage.
messuage a house and yard in a village.
mortuary a duty, usually one's second-best beast, paid to the church upon death.
pannage a fee paid to a lord to allow one's pigs to forage for acorns, nuts, and apples on a forest floor.
reeve a manor official who made sure that tenants who owed the lord of the manor labor repaid him promptly.
serf a peasant; a villein.
tallage an annual tax paid by villeins to a lord.
tithe traditional donation of 10 percent of all crops to the church.
tithing a group of 10 to 12 men, each responsible for the other's behavior in a village.
toft a yard of a house in a village.
villein a serf.
virgate a unit of land from 18 to 32 acres, thought to be sufficient to support a peasant and his family.
woodward a manor official responsible for a lord's woodland.
HOUSE CONSTRUCTION
aggregate sand, stone, or gravel used to make concrete.
anchor bolts bolts set in the top of a concrete foundation to hold structural members in place.
backfill earth mounded up around a foundation's walls to create a slope for water runoff.
balloon framing a form of house construction in which the upright studs extend all the way from the sill to the roof, a technique that has largely grown out of favor.
balusters the spindles or poles that support a stair railing.
balustrade a row of balusters topped with a rail.
baseboard the interior trim that runs around the walls next to the floor.
batten a strip of wood used to cover a joint, especially between siding boards.
bay window any curved, rectangular, or polygonal window that projects out from a wall.
beam a large, supportive structural member, usually running from one foundation wall to another and held up by pillars or poles.
bearing wall any wall that bears the weight of a ceiling, floor, or roof above it. Also known as a load- bearing wall or a bearing partition.
belvedere a small, glass-enclosed room used as a lookout on the roof of a house.
berm a mound or bank of earth formed to shunt drainage away from a house.
bevel to cut at an angle, as in beveled siding; thicker on one end than the other.
bibcock or bib nozzle a faucet on the outside of the house around or above the foundation. Also known as a sill cock.
board-and-batten siding siding of broad boards lined together with narrow boards or battens nailed over their joints.
breezeway a sheltered passageway between a garage and a house.
bricklaying The following are common terms.
common bond a bricklaying style characterized by several courses of overlapping stretchers interspersed with an occasional course of headers.
course one row of bricks.
English bond a bricklaying style characterized by alternating courses of headers and stretchers.
Flemish bond a bricklaying style characterized by courses consisting of alternating headers and stretchers forming an overall diamond pattern.
garden wall a bricklaying style characterized by courses in which every fourth brick is a header.
header a brick laid with its short end facing out.
rowlock a header laid on its narrow side.
running bond a bricklaying style characterized by overlapping courses of stretchers and no headers.
house construction 33
shiner a stretcher with its broad side facing out.
soldier a brick laid standing on end.
stacked bond a bricklaying style characterized by nonoverlapping courses of stretchers.
stretcher a brick laid lengthwise.
bridging small pieces of wood crossed between studs to add rigidity and to distribute load.
casement window a hinged window that swings open along one vertical edge.
casing the trim around a door or a window.
caulking sealing material used to waterproof cracks and joints, especially around doors and windows.
clapboard a long, beveled board used for siding.
collar beam a beam that connects rafters. Also known as a rafter tie.
conduit, electrical a pipe or tube through which wiring is run.
corbel a projection of wood or masonry to add structural support to a wall.
counterflashing extra flashing used around a chimney to help prevent rain from entering a house.
cripple stud a stud placed over a wall opening, above a header.
curtain wall a non-load-bearing wall.
doorsill a door framing member that serves as a threshold.
dormer a projecting structure, usually containing one or more windows, on a sloping roof.
double-hung window a window that has two sashes that can be moved up or down independently of one another.
drip cap exterior molding above a window or door to direct rainwater away from woodwork.
drop siding tongue-and-groove board siding.
drywall any wallboard or other wall covering not needing a plaster finish; gypsum wallboard.
eaves the lowest or overhanging portion of a roof.
English basement a house or apartment building with its first floor halfway underground.
fascia the horizontal trim board running along the roof line; it is attached to the ends of the rafters.
firestop a block placed between framing studs to slow the spread of fire.
flashing sheet metal, weather stripping, or other material used to prevent the entry of rainwater through the joints in a roof.
floating foundation a foundation without footings, used in swampy or other unstable areas.
footings concrete supports under a foundation.
foundation the large supporting structure below ground, forming a basement or a slab.
gable the portion of a wall between the two slopes of a roof.
gambrel roof a double-sloped roof, with the lower portion being the steepest.
gingerbread any elaborate or excessive ornamentation on a house. Also known as gingerbread work.
glazing installing glass into sashes and doors.
grout a thin mortar used in tile work.
gusset a bracket or board applied to intersections of a frame to add rigidity.
gypsum wallboard wall panels made of gypsum and faced with paper.
header the topmost frame member over a door, window, or other wall opening. Also known as a lintel.
hip roof a roof that rises on all four sides of a house; a roof with no gable ends.
jack rafter a short rafter frame between the wall plate and a hip rafter.