one of the divisions of a window or the like, consisting of a single plate of glass in a frame.
a plate of glass for such a division.
a panel, as of a wainscot, ceiling, door, etc.
a flat section, side, or surface, as one of the sides of a bolthead.
Philately. a sheet of stamps or any large portion of one, as a half or a quarter, as issued by the post office.
a sheet of glass in a window or door
a panel of a window, door, wall, etc
a flat section or face, as of a cut diamond
philately
any of the rectangular marked divisions of a sheet of stamps made for convenience in selling
a single page in a stamp booklet See also tête-bêche se tenant
1250–1300; Middle English pane, pan strip of cloth, section < Middle French pan < Latin pannus cloth; akin to Old English fana flag; see vane
From French
A pane is a piece of glass, especially one that fits into a window frame. If you hit your baseball through your neighbors' kitchen window, you'll probably owe them a new pane. Panes are almost always made of glass, although occasionally they're some other translucent material. Stained-glass windows have colorful panes, and older houses with their original details often have windows made of many small glass panes. The original meaning of pane was "piece of a garment," from the Latin pannum, "piece of cloth." Later, a pane became "a panel of wood," and finally "a panel of glass."
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Fans broke the glass pane behind the Kings' bench after Scott Wedgewood's save.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 22, 2026
It keeps you talking while winter performs behind the pane.
From Salon • Mar. 8, 2026
Cordoning off their share of terrace was a pane of pebbled glass, through which Kertész could make out the forms of vacationing neighbors.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 20, 2026
She was alluding to a speech by Kast, 59, in the coastal resort of Vina del Mar last week, at which he was shielded behind a pane of bullet-proof glass.
From Barron's • Nov. 12, 2025
He leaned into the glass until his forehead touched the pane.
From "Orbiting Jupiter" by Gary D. Schmidt
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
