ashlar

American  

[ash-ler] / ˈæʃ lər /

Or ashler

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.

---

verb (used with object)

1. to face with ashlars.

ashlar British  

/ ˈæʃlə /

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

---

Etymology

Origin of ashlar

1325–75; Middle English ascheler < Middle French aissel ( i ) er < Latin axillāris, equivalent to axill ( a ) ( axis board, plank, axis ¹ + -illa diminutive suffix) + -āris -ar ¹; -ar ²

Example Sentences

The syncopation of transparent and opaque windows, alternating with ashlar panels, can suggest the patterns of kente cloth.

From New York Times • Dec. 12, 2022

When he began with Bambridge, it took him three days to make an ashlar.

From Time Magazine Archive

The so-called tomb of Leonidas, a square chamber built with huge blocks of ashlar masonry, of which three courses remain, appears like building of the best period, but its history is wholly unknown.

From Rambles and Studies in Greece by Mahaffy, J. P.

The well, a plain ashlar pipe six feet in diameter, is in the south-western angle of the floor in the western chamber.

From Memorials of Old London Volume I by Ditchfield, P. H. (Peter Hampson)

In its design it belongs to the true Spanish type of the Renaissance, with the simple ashlar masonry of its walls and the accentuation of the principal entrance doorway and the windows.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 2, Slice 4 "Aram, Eugene" to "Arcueil" by Various