Liberal Dictionary English Dictionary
noun
- a cut that is made in wood or some other material, usually at a 45° angle to the adjacent principal faces.Compare bevel.
verb (used with object)
- to make a chamfer on or in.
noun
- a narrow flat surface at the corner of a beam, post, etc, esp one at an angle of 45°Compare bevel (def. 1)
verb (tr)
- to cut such a surface on (a beam, etc)
- another word for chase 2 (def. 4)
c.1600, “small groove cut in wood or stone,” from Middle French chanfraindre (15c., Modern French chanfreiner), past participle of chanfraint. The second element seems to be from Latin frangere “to break” (see fraction); perhaps the whole word is cantum frangere “to break the edge.” Meaning “bevelled surface of a square edge or corner” is attested from c.1840, of uncertain connection to the other sense.