Gable
name, noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 The triangular area at the peak of an external wall adjacent to, and terminating, two sloped roof surfaces (pitches).
"It was a queer sort of place—a gable-ended old house, one side palsied as it were, and leaning over sadly."
- 2 A cable. obsolete
"First, striking sail, their tacklings then they loosed. And (with their gables stoop'd) their mast imposed Into the mast-room."
- 3 the vertical triangular wall between the sloping ends of gable roof wordnet
- 1 A surname.
Example
More examples"Anne was standing in the gable room, looking solemnly at three new dresses spread out on the bed."
Etymology
The southern English term gable probably came from Old French gable (compare modern French gâble), from Old Norse gafl. The northern form gavel is perhaps also akin to Old Norse gafl, masculine, of the same meaning (compare Swedish gavel, Danish gavl). See gafl for more etymology information.
* As an English surname, related to the noun gable. * As a German and Jewish surname, Americanized from Gabel. Also see Göbel and Goebel.
Related phrases
More for "gable"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.