Tenon
name, noun, verb ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A projecting member left by cutting away the wood around it, and made to insert into a mortise, and in this way secure together the parts of a frame.
"A keyed mortise-and-tenon joint is constructed the same as a doweled mortise and tenon joint except that the tenon projects far enough through the mortise to admit the insertion of a tapering key which draws the mortised piece firmly against the shoulder of the tenon."
- 2 a projection at the end of a piece of wood that is shaped to fit into a mortise and form a mortise joint wordnet
- 1 To make into a tenon. transitive
"First we'll tenon this part, then we'll make a mortise that will fit it on that part."
- 2 To fit with tenons. transitive
- 1 A surname from French.
Example
More examples"A keyed mortise-and-tenon joint is constructed the same as a doweled mortise and tenon joint except that the tenon projects far enough through the mortise to admit the insertion of a tapering key which draws the mortised piece firmly against the shoulder of the tenon."
Etymology
From Middle English tenoun, tenown, tenon, from Anglo-Norman tenoun, from Old French tenon.
Related phrases
More for "tenon"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.