sill

¹

[ sil ]

noun

1. a horizontal timber, block, or the like serving as a foundation of a wall, house, etc.
2. the horizontal piece or member beneath a window, door, or other opening.
3. Geology. a tabular body of intrusive igneous rock, ordinarily between beds of sedimentary rocks or layers of volcanic ejecta.

Sill

²

[ sil ]

noun

1. Mount, a mountain in E central California, in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. 14,153 feet (4,314 meters).

sill

/ sɪl /

noun

1. a shelf at the bottom of a window inside a room
2. a horizontal piece along the outside lower member of a window, that throws water clear of the wall below
3. the lower horizontal member of a window or door frame
4. a continuous horizontal member placed on top of a foundation wall in order to carry a timber framework
5. a flat usually horizontal mass of igneous rock, situated between two layers of older sedimentary rock, that was formed by an intrusion of magma

sill

/ sĭl /

1. A sheet of igneous rock intruded between layers of older rock.
2. See illustration at batholith

Other Words From

• sill-like adjective
• under·sill noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of sill¹

before 900; Middle English sille, Old English syl, sylle; cognate with Low German süll, Old Norse syll; akin to German Schwelle sill

Word History and Origins

Origin of sill¹

Old English syll; related to Old Norse svill sill, Icelandic svoli tree trunk, Old High German swella sill, Latin solum ground

Example Sentences

First, though, she needed to crawl out a narrow ladies’ room window and stand up on the sill.

From Literature

This rigid material must be custom cut and fit tight between the floor joists, subfloor and sill plate.

From Seattle Times

Exterior and interior halves drape over a sill to leave the window mostly unobscured.

From Seattle Times

The hearing was told Sir Bobby had lost his balance as he stood up from his chair, striking a window sill and "possibly a radiator".

From BBC

But this is the first time sill construction has been used in consecutive years.

From Seattle Times

Related Words

• girder
• joist
• piling
• pillar
• plank
• pole
• shaft
• timber