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mullion

[muhl-yuh n]Architecture
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noun
  1. a vertical member, as of stone or wood, between the lights of a window, the panels in wainscoting, or the like.
  2. one of the radiating bars of a rose window or the like.
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verb (used with object)
  1. to furnish with, or to form into divisions by the use of, mullions.
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Origin of mullion

First recorded in 1560–70; metathetic variant of monial
Related formsun·mul·lioned, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for mullion

Historical Examples

  • The other end of the rope he now knotted very firmly to a mullion.

    The Strolling Saint

    Raphael Sabatini

  • I discovered, too, that Tamsin had ridden from Kynance to Mullion on horseback.

    The Birthright

    Joseph Hocking

  • In the tracery beneath, at the head of the mullion, was a statue.

  • There was an Italian steamer, now, that went ashore at Mullion.

    In the West Country

    Francis A. Knight

  • She had been once to Cornwall, to Mullion and it had been just like that!

    Fortitude

    Hugh Walpole

British Dictionary definitions for mullion

mullion

noun
  1. a vertical member between the casements or panes of a window or the panels of a screen
  2. one of the ribs on a rock face
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verb
  1. (tr) to furnish (a window, screen, etc) with mullions
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Word Origin

C16: variant of Middle English munial, from Old French moinel, of unknown origin
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 mullion

n.

"vertical column between the lights of a window," 1560s, metathesis of Middle English moyniel (early 14c.), from Anglo-French moinel, noun use of moienel (adj.) "middle," from Old French meien "intermediate, mean" (see mean (adj.)). Related: Mullioned.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper