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ashlar

or ash·ler

[ash-ler]
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noun
  1. Masonry.
    1. a squared building stone cut more or less true on all faces adjacent to those of other stones so as to permit very thin mortar joints.
    2. such stones collectively.
    3. masonry made of them.
  2. Carpentry. a short stud between joists and sloping rafters, especially near the eaves.
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verb (used with object)
  1. to face with ashlars.
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Origin of ashlar

1325–75; Middle English ascheler < Middle French aissel(i)er < Latin axillāris, equivalent to axill(a) (axis board, plank, axis1 + -illa diminutive suffix) + -āris -ar1; cf. -ar2
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

trade, brickwork, ashlar, stonework

Examples from the Web for ashlar

Historical Examples

  • The flame that clomb the ashlar gray Had burned it red as tile.

    Poems by the Way

    William Morris

  • The front of the Propylæum is of ashlar and rock-face work, and it is pronounced a very beautiful structure.

    Miss Ashton's New Pupil

    Mrs. S. S. Robbins

  • Ashlar, masonry consisting of stones squared and smoothed in front and built in regular courses.

  • It is built of rubble masonry, with ashlar facework, laid in hydraulic mortar.

  • “Ashlar means a building stone cut and dressed,” explained David.

British Dictionary definitions for ashlar

ashlar

ashler

noun
  1. a block of hewn stone with straight edges for use in building
  2. Also called: ashlar veneer a thin dressed stone with straight edges, used to face a wall
  3. masonry made of ashlar
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Word Origin

C14: from Old French aisselier crossbeam, from ais board, from Latin axis axletree; see axis 1
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for ashlar

n.

late 14c., "square stone for building or paving," from Old French aiseler, from Latin axillaris, from axilla, diminutive of axis "board, plank," which is perhaps not the same axis that means "axle." The stone sense is peculiar to English.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper