Tuesday, March 22, 2016

Word of the day: mansard

The word of the day is mansard:
  1. Also called mansard roof. a hip roof, each face of which has a steeper lower part and a shallower upper part. Compare French roof.
  2. the story under such a roof.
1734, from Fr. mansarde, short for toit à la mansarde, named for Fr. architect Nicholas François Mansart (1598-1666).


"It was a six-story establishment with a mansard roof and a continental restaurant that served such delicacies as 'broiled redhead duck with currant jelly sauce.'"

 - Hampton Sides, In the Kingdom of Ice: The Grand and Terrible Polar Voyage of the USS Jeannette

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