purlin

or pur·line

[ pur-lin ]

noun

1. a longitudinal member in a roof frame, usually for supporting common rafters or the like between the plate and the ridge.

purlin

/ ˈpɜːlɪn /

noun

1. a horizontal beam that provides intermediate support for the common rafters of a roof construction

Word History and Origins

Origin of purlin¹

1400–50; late Middle English purlyn, purloyne, akin to Anglo-Latin perliō; of uncertain origin

Word History and Origins

Origin of purlin¹

C15: of uncertain origin

Example Sentences

I’d need to jump from purlin to purlin, about fifteen of them, spaced four feet apart, to get the chalk, then the same number back.

From Literature

I shimmied the length of a purlin, which took me to the framing beam at the barn’s edge.

From Literature

I wouldn’t have dreamed of doing anything so radical, but after the twentieth purlin my back was sticky with sweat, and I flapped my T-shirt to make a fan, then rolled up my sleeves until an inch of my shoulders was visible.

From Literature

I saw their faces superimposed on every purlin Shawn welded into place that summer, so that by the end of it, I had finally begun to grasp something that should have been immediately apparent: that someone had opposed the great march toward equality; someone had been the person from whom freedom had to be wrested.

From Literature

Purlin, Purline, pur′lin, n. a piece of timber stretching horizontally across the rafters underneath to support them in the middle.

From Project Gutenberg