# ceil

Pronunciation: US say "SEEL" /siːl/; UK

## Noun

1. Abbreviation of ceiling. — Abbreviation of ceiling.
   - Simple: Abbreviation of ceiling. It is the short form used in math for rounding a number up.
   - _The spreadsheet applies ceil to round each value up to the nearest whole number._
   - _In the formula, ceil returns the smallest integer not less than the input._
4. The overhead interior surface of a room; a poetic or literary term for a ceiling. *(literary)*
   - Simple: The top surface inside a room, above your head. A poetic word for the ceiling.
   - _Moonlight fell through the high windows onto the chapel's vaulted ceil._
   - _The poet described the night sky as heaven's vast ceil._

## Verb

2. To cover a wall or other surface with plaster, stucco, thin boards, or something similar as a lining or finish.
   - Simple: To cover the inside of a wall or roof with plaster, wood, or boards.
   - _The craftsmen ceil the chapel vault with ornate plasterwork._
   - _Carpenters ceiled the upper room with cedar panels before winter._
3. To set an upper limit, or maximum bound, on a value.
   - Simple: To put an upper limit on how high a number or value can go.
   - _The function ceils every result at one hundred._
   - _Administrators chose to ceil memory usage for each process._

## Origin

**Meaning 2** — The origin is uncertain, but it is perhaps related to the Latin "cēlō," meaning "to hide."
**Meanings 1, 3–4** — An abbreviation of "ceiling," influenced by the French "ciel."

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/ceil (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).