Homewords Bound: Learning Down The House: Parts of Your Home

An arch, from the Latin arcum, for "bow," is a curved structure that supports weight above it by transferring it down to its supporting pillars. The arch in architect is Greek, though, meaning "chief," as in "chief builder."

Caminus is Latin for "furnace," "forge," or "oven." That became the Italian caminata, a "room with a fireplace," which then evolved into the French cheminée, "fireplace," and by extension the chimney attached to it.

You might also hear a cornice referred to as a "crown molding."

A hearth is a fireplace, and so central is heat and cooking to the concept of home that the two words are often combined into expressions like "the comforts of hearth and home."

Jambe means "leg" in French, and if you sort of squint at a doorway you can understand how the pieces framing the sides might be considered its legs.

Giste is Old French for the beams that support a bridge.

Originally referring to the central column of a spiral staircase, newel now describes any carved post at either end of a staircase's banister. A line of decorative newel posts can also sometimes hold up a porch roof.

Besides thin, tapered sheets of wood used to clad a house, a shingle can also refer to a sign hanging outside a professional's office. To start a business — a law or architecture practice or similar — is sometimes called "hanging up your shingle."

The entrance to a room or building is the threshold, and the word can be used metaphorically to describe the crossing from one condition or state of existence to another.