tenon
/ˈtɛn.ən/
tenon noun: a projecting member left by cutting away the wood around it, and made to insert into a mortise, and in this way secure together the parts of a frame.
Noun
tenon (plural tenons)
- A projecting member left by cutting away the wood around it, and made to insert into a mortise, and in this way secure together the parts of a frame.
- A keyed mortise-and-tenon joint is constructed the same as a doweled mortise and tenon joint except that the tenon projects far enough through the mortise to admit the insertion of a tapering key which draws the mortised piece firmly against the shoulder of the tenon.1918, Herman Frederick Rusch, Shop Work, Joinery-cabinet-making-carpentry, Chicago, Illinois, United States: University of Chicago Press, page 56
- One soon learned, however, that it was no easy thing to make wood do exactly as one required it. It looked quite easy in the masterly hands of the experienced pattern-maker, but the mysteries of dowelling and mortice and tenon were not uncovered in a week or two.1944 November and December, A Former Pupil, “Some Memories of Crewe Works—II”, in Railway Magazine, page 341
Verb
tenon (third-person singular simple present tenons, present participle tenoning, simple past and past participle tenoned)
- To make into a tenon.
- First we'll tenon this part, then we'll make a mortise that will fit it on that part.
- To fit with tenons.
Proper noun capitalized: Tenon
Tenon
- A surname from French.
tenon meaning in Tamil and Punjabi
tenon in Tamil
- கழுந்து
tenon in Punjabi
- tenon
- ਚੂਲ cūl
Forms of tenon
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | tenons |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | tenons |
| present participle | tenoning |
| past participle | tenoned |
| past | tenoned |
Origin of tenon
From Middle English tenoun, tenown, tenon, from Anglo-Norman tenoun, from Old French tenon.
Words formed from tenon
Phrases with tenon
Words that rhyme with tenon
Questions about tenon
- What does tenon mean?
- Tenon means a projecting member left by cutting away the wood around it, and made to insert into a mortise, and in this way secure together the parts of a frame.
- What is tenon in Tamil?
- Tenon in Tamil is கழுந்து. See Tenon meaning in Tamil.
- What part of speech is tenon?
- Tenon can be a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce tenon?
- Tenon is pronounced /ˈtɛn.ən/.
- What is the plural of tenon?
- The plural of tenon is tenons.
Words near tenon in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: tenon (page history and authors); Tenon (page history and authors); tenon (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ਚੂਲ (Punjabi) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Neøn-tenon.wav.
Cite this entry: “tenon.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/tenon. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.