louver
Plurallouvers
UK spellinglouvre
- 1A set of sloping, overlapping slats or boards that let in air and light while keeping out rain and the like.
Wooden louvers in the barn's gable let air circulate while keeping the hay dry.
The architect fitted a louver over each window so the rooms stayed bright even in a downpour.
Note
Sets of slats make this a mostly plural word: builders fit louvers in a gable or over a window. In the singular it names either the whole slatted panel or a single slat, so a louver over each window and one broken louver are both normal. The word goes back to an Old French name for a skylight, and the medieval roof turret did similar work.
- 2One of a set of slits made for ventilation, such as those in the hood of a car.
Each louver punched into the hood lets hot air escape from the engine bay.
The cabinet's side panel has louvers that keep the electronics inside from overheating.
Similarvent
- 3A small turret on the roof of some medieval buildings, built to provide ventilation or let in light.
Restorers rebuilt the timber louver crowning the medieval hall, using old drawings as a guide.
Air drawn up through the roof louver kept the great hall from growing stuffy.
Note
The turret's name came through Middle English lover from Old French lovier, "skylight", which fits a roof opening meant to bring light and air down into a building. Spenser still writes lover in The Faerie Queene (1596), describing a gloomy dwelling lit by neither window nor lover, only by candle-light.
Practice
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Origin
Inherited from Middle English lover, from Old French lovier or lover ("skylight"), from Medieval Latin *lōdārium (attested as lōvārium), an extension of lōdium. The origin of lōdium is unclear, but it is probably Germanic and related to Frankish *laubijā ("shelter").