cantilever

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun projecting horizontal beam fixed at one end only
  2. verb project as a cantilever
  3. verb construct with girders and beams such that only one end is fixed

Etymology

First attested in the 1660s, probably from cant (“slope, edge, corner”) + lever, but the earliest form (c. 1610) was cantlapper. First element may also be Spanish can (“dog”), an architect's term for an end of timber jutting out of a wall, on which beams rested.

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