Miters

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A specific joint made by connecting two pieces at an angled cut to create a neat corner connection
2. A technique utilized to join two materials at a precise angle for aesthetic or structural purposes
3. A joint formed by cutting two pieces at complementary angles to fit together neatly ; a device used for accurately measuring or marking angles in material preparation

Etymology: "Miters" is the American spelling of "mitres," the plural of "miter" as a noun, and the plural form is the one that matters here, since the noun names the angled joint itself. The word "miter" has a longer history than its joinery sense suggests: it originally named the tall, pointed headdress worn by bishops and abbots, and the carpentry sense came from the resemblance between the two shapes. A mitre joint is cut so that each piece meets its neighbour along a bisecting angle, usually forty-five degrees, so the pieces form a corner without a visible end grain. The name for the headdress was itself a borrowing, reaching English through Latin "mitra" from Greek "mitra," a band or turban.