Liberal Dictionary English Dictionary
transom [tran-suh m] ExamplesWord Origin noun
- a crosspiece separating a door or the like from a window or fanlight above it.
- Also called transom light, transom window. a window above such a crosspiece.
- a crossbar of wood or stone, dividing a window horizontally.
- a window so divided.
- Nautical.
- a flat termination to a stern, above the water line.
- framework running athwartships in way of the sternpost of a steel or iron vessel, used as a support for the frames of the counter.
- Artillery. a metal piece connecting the sidepieces of the tail or the cheeks of a gun carriage.
Origin of transom 1325–75; late Middle English traunsum, traunsom, Middle English transyn, probably alteration (by association with trans-) of traversayn Old French traversin crosspiece, derivative of travers breadth; see traverse Related formstran·somed, adjective Examples from the Web for transom Contemporary Examples of transom
News does not come over the transom; reporters have to work hard to get it.
Pentagon Papers Lawyer James Goodale: It’s Time for Eric Holder to Resign
James C. Goodale
May 30, 2013
Plus, Con Ed gets first dibs on whatever comes over the transom.
Alexandra Penney
December 10, 2009
Historical Examples of transom
Now roost on the transom, over there in the corner, Stryker, and don’t move.
Louis Joseph Vance
If the stern was square, the transom was set at a rake of not less than 45.
The Migrations of an American Boat Type
Howard I. Chapelle
The arch of the transom must be marked, and the hull cut down to the sheer.
Raymond Francis Yates
The “hatch” was the transom over the door between the offices.
Joseph Crosby Lincoln
Cadogan wondered what the man on the transom was thinking of.
James B. Connolly
British Dictionary definitions for transom transom noun
- Also called: traverse a horizontal member across a windowCompare mullion
- a horizontal member that separates a door from a window over it
- the usual US name for fanlight
- nautical
- a surface forming the stern of a vessel, either vertical or canted either forwards (reverse transom) or aft at the upper side
- any of several transverse beams used for strengthening the stern of a vessel
Derived Formstransomed, adjectiveWord Origin for transom C14: earlier traversayn, from Old French traversin, from traverse Word Origin and History for transom n.
mid-14c., transeyn “crossbeam spanning an opening, lintel,” probably by dissimilation from Latin transtrum “crossbeam” (especially one spanning an opening), from trans- “across” (see trans-) + instrumental suffix -trum. Meaning “small window over a door or other window” is first recorded 1844.