Transom

//ˈtɹæn.səm// noun

noun ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A crosspiece over a door; a lintel.
  2. 2
    a horizontal crosspiece across a window or separating a door from a window over it wordnet
  3. 3
    A horizontal glazing bar in a window.
  4. 4
    a window above a door that is usually hinged to a horizontal crosspiece over the door wordnet
  5. 5
    A transom window.
Show 4 more definitions
  1. 6
    Any of several transverse structural members in a ship, especially at the stern; a thwart.
  2. 7
    The flat or nearly flat stern of a boat or ship.
  3. 8
    The horizontal beam on a cross or gallows.
  4. 9
    Items that have arrived over the transom. attributive, figuratively, usually

    "We are overwhelmed with transom resumes."

Synonyms

All synonyms
crosspiecefanlighttraverseair ductair holeair passage

Example

More examples

"And dip a bunch of hyssop in the blood that is at the door, and sprinkle the transom of the door therewith, and both the door cheeks: let none of you go out of the door of his house till morning."

Etymology

From Middle English traunsom; probably an alteration of Latin trānstrum (“crossbeam”).

Related phrases

a hinged glassed frame above such a crossbarover the transomtransom windowover transomtransom window

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.