Mortises

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A recess or cavity created in a material serves to hold a tenon or similar component for secure assembly, also describing the connection point between two joined parts, and can refer to the process of cutting this opening
2. This term denotes a slot made within a material intended to receive a tenon or another fitting piece, while also identifying the joint formed by two materials coming together securely, and may encompass the act of machining such a feature
3. An opening carved into a piece of wood or other material to fit a matching projection ; the secure joint created when a projecting piece fits snugly into this opening ; the process of cutting such an opening for joining parts

Etymology: "Mortises" is the plural of "mortise", the cut-out hollow in a piece of wood or stone that receives a matching projecting tongue, called a tenon, to form a joint. The word came into Middle English as "morteys", borrowed from Old French "mortaise", and its ultimate source is Arabic. Behind it lies the Arabic "murtazz", meaning "fastened", from the verb "irtazza", which means "to be fixed firmly in place." The path from an Arabic verb of fastening to a carpenter's socket is a matter of meaning narrowing to a single technical sense. The Old French form kept the idea of something held firmly, and English applied it to the precise joinery it describes. Carpentry is a trade where the word's original sense of a secure fixing fits the job exactly.

Synonyms: joints, notches, slots, cutouts, interlocks