Glossary
Door terms in plain language, with the French term where it helps.
Slab
The door leaf alone, without frame or hardware.
Prehung
The leaf hung on its frame (jamb), with hinges, delivered as one assembled unit.
Jamb (frame)
The fixed frame the door closes against: two legs and a head, sometimes a sill. French: huisserie.
Casing
The trim that covers the joint between jamb and wall. Our wrap-around system has casing on both sides. French: chambranle.
Wrap-around jamb
A jamb that lines the whole wall thickness, finished with casing on both faces. No visible fasteners. French: ébrasement.
Surface-mounted frame
A frame fixed to the face of the wall rather than inside the opening. Keeps the full passage. French: cadre en applique.
Rabbet
The step cut in the jamb that the door closes into. Overlapping hinging uses a rabbeted door edge. French: feuillure.
Overlapping hinging
The door edge is rabbeted and overlaps the frame, hiding the gap. Allows fine adjustment. French: ferrage à recouvrement.
Flush hinging
The door has square edges and sits in the same plane as the frame. Cleaner look, tighter tolerances. French: ferrage arasant.
Hinge
The pivot. We use 3 or 4 per door, adjustable in 3 directions. French: fiche or paumelle.
Invisible hinge
A hinge mortised fully into door and frame, not visible when closed.
Handing
Which way the door swings. Left-hand push: standing on the push side, the door opens away from you to the left. Right-hand push: to the right.
Passage width
The clear opening once the frame is set. French: cotes de passage.
Overall size
The largest dimensions of the frame. French: cotes hors tout.
Stile and rail
The vertical and horizontal members of a frame-and-panel door.
Panel
The field inside the stiles and rails; solid, veneered or glass.
Raised panel
A panel with a beveled edge so it fits a groove and casts a shadow line. French: plate-bande.
Mortise and tenon
The joint where a projecting tongue (tenon) fits a matching slot (mortise). The strongest joint in a wood door.
Dowel
A cylindrical wood pin used as an alternative joint. French: tourillon.
Glued-laminated (glulam)
Several layers of wood glued with the grain aligned. Straighter and stronger than a single piece. All our frame stiles are glulam.
Veneer
A thin layer of real wood over a stable core. Ours are 0.6 mm (Flush) or 2 mm (Atelier).
Profile and counter-profile
The molding cut into the stiles and rails so the parts interlock. Not applied molding.
Ogee
The classic S-shaped molding profile. French: doucine.
Chamfer
A small bevel on an edge, instead of a molding.
Divided lites
Small individual panes separated by muntins. Ours are true divided lites, each pane set in a mortised muntin. French: petits-bois.
Oculus
A round window in a door.
Transom
A fixed panel or glass above the door, to the ceiling if you like. French: imposte.
Pocket door
A sliding door that disappears into the wall. French: galandage.
Flush door, invisible door
A door and frame set flush with the wall, painted with it.
Acoustic seal
A soft gasket in the frame the door closes against. French: joint isophonique.
Drop seal
A concealed seal in the bottom rail that drops when the door closes. French: plinthe automatique.
Latch bolt
The beveled bolt that the lever operates. French: pêne demi-tour.
Deadbolt
The square bolt the key operates. French: pêne dormant.
Privacy lock
Latch plus a thumb-turn, for bathrooms and bedrooms. French: bec de cane à condamnation.
Mortise lock
A lock housed inside the door edge. French: serrure à larder.
3-point lock
Locks at three points along the edge; used on insulated doors to keep them flat.
Cylinder
The key mechanism, usually Euro profile. French: barillet.
Spindle
The square bar that connects the two levers through the lock, 7 or 8 mm. French: carré, fouillot.
Magnetic lock
A latch that retracts fully when the door is open. No battery, no wiring.
Lacquer
An opaque sprayed finish, matte or satin, any RAL / NCS color.
Stain
A transparent color that keeps the grain visible.
Varnish
A clear protective film, matte or satin.
Whitewash
A white translucent stain that keeps the grain visible. French: lasure blanc.
Oil
A penetrating finish that cures inside the wood. Matte, water and scratch resistant.
Brushed
The soft grain brushed out to leave the hard grain in relief.
Cerused
The grain is opened and filled with a contrasting paste, usually white or gray on oak. French: céruse.
Thermo-treated wood
Wood heated in a kiln to over 200 °C, which darkens it and makes it very stable.
Species
The kind of tree the wood comes from. French: essence.
Edge
The narrow side of the door. French: chant.
Color matching
Matching a finish to a sample you supply. French: contretypage.
French