louver

American  

[loo-ver] / ˈlu vər /

especially British, louvre

noun

• louvers
  plural

1. any of a series of narrow openings framed at their longer edges with slanting, overlapping fins or slats, adjustable for admitting light and air while shutting out rain.

2. a fin or slat framing such an opening.

3. a ventilating turret or lantern, as on the roof of a medieval building.

4. any of a system of slits formed in the hood of an automobile, the door of a metal locker, etc., used especially for ventilation.

5. a door, window, or the like, having adjustable louvers.

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verb (used with object)

1. to make a louver in; add louvers to.

   to louver a door.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• louvered
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• louvers
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of louver

1325–75; Middle English lover < Middle French lovier < Middle Dutch love gallery. See lobby

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

louver louvers

As Miranda and others walked on a metal grate over the channel, two workers in hard hats stood on a platform spraying water to clean algae off a metal louver.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 2, 2024

After I adopted him, adjusting a louver window so that he could run out into the courtyard, he would greet me so effusively in front of my front door that I was embarrassed.

From New York Times ● Aug. 19, 2016

Through the louver in the roof, above the thin wisps of issuing smoke, the sky showed pale and blue.

From "The Two Towers" by J. R. R. Tolkien

I pointed to a louver skylight half-way up the roof.

From The Adventures of Harry Revel by Sir Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch

He saw smoke and sparks streaming up through the louver, and rays of light gleaming through the illclosed shutters upon the snow.

From The Treasure by Selma Lagerlöf

At the Timken, Kelly incorporated downlighting to accentuate the building’s travertine walls, and engineered grids of soffits and louvers that wash the galleries in soft, ethereal light.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 25, 2025

But as soon as the temperatures reach around 18° C, the wax begins to melt and expand, pushing the louvers open and exposing a surface that reflects sunlight and emits heat.

From Science Daily ● Dec. 13, 2023

The D.C. forensic lab building, a 351,000-square-foot project, includes automated solar sunscreen covers and fritted glass louvers to control indirect light in open office areas.

From Washington Post ● Apr. 14, 2023

Knaus described the louvers as “a component we’ve all come to the conclusion it is not correct and we’ve all tried to work … to get it fixed because we’ve done that with other parts.”

From Seattle Times ● Mar. 18, 2023

The window louvers shattered and the glass shards clinked as they fell to the floor.

From "Half of a Yellow Sun" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

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