lintel

From Middle English lyntel, from Old French lintel, from Vulgar Latin *līntellus, for *līmitellus, diminutive noun from līmes. Equivalent to limit +‎ -el.

• IPA^(key): /ˈlɪn.təl/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪntəl

lintel (plural lintels)

2. (architecture) A horizontal structural beam spanning an opening, such as between the uprights of a door or a window, and which supports the wall above.
   • 1915, W[illiam] Somerset Maugham, chapter LXXXVII, in Of Human Bondage, New York, N.Y.: George H[enry] Doran Company, →OCLC:

     Athelny had told him that he lived in a house built by Inigo Jones; he had raved, as he raved over everything, over the balustrade of old oak; and when he came down to open the door for Philip he made him at once admire the elegant carving of the lintel.

   • 1927 August, T[homas] S[tearns] Eliot, “[Ariel Poems.] Journey of the Magi.”, in Collected Poems 1909–1935, London: Faber & Faber […], published September 1954, →OCLC, page 107:

     Then we came to a tavern with vine-leaves over the lintel,

• overslay
• superliminary
• header

• threshold

• jamb
• sill

• Lintel (architecture) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Douglas Harper (2001–2026), “lintel”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

• lentil, tellin, tellin'

Borrowed from Old French lintel, from Vulgar Latin limitalis, from Latin liminaris.

• IPA^(key): /linˈtɛl/ [lin̪ˈt̪ɛɫ]
• Rhymes: -ɛl
• Hyphenation: lin‧tel

lintel m (plural linteis)

1. lintel

   Synonym: lumieira

• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “lintel”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “lintel”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “lintel”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

lintel oblique singular, m (oblique plural linteaus or linteax or lintiaus or lintiax or lintels, nominative singular linteaus or linteax or lintiaus or lintiax or lintels, nominative plural lintel)

1. lintel (beam)

• French: linteau
• → Middle English: lintel
  • English: lintel
• → Portuguese: lintel, dintel
• → Spanish: lintel, dintel

• Hyphenation: lin‧tel

lintel m (plural lintéis)

1. lintel

• parapeito

• “lintel”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “lintel”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

• IPA^(key): /linˈtel/ [lĩn̪ˈt̪el]
• Rhymes: -el
• Syllabification: lin‧tel

lintel m (plural linteles)

1. (architecture) lintel

• “lintel”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025