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chamfer (CHAM-fer) - n., a flat surface made by cutting off the edge of a block of material; a furrow or groove, as in a column. v., to cut off the edge of, bevel; to cut a groove in, flute.
As in furniture, where an edge is champfered off at a 45° angle between two adjoining right-angled faces, but the Wikipedia article has many other examples, including architectural and in machining. The verb is much older (late 1500s) than the noun (1820s), as a back-formation from even older chamfering, from French chanfrein, beveled edge, from the past participle of Old French chanfreindre, to bevel, from chant, edge (from Vulgar Latin *cantus, corner, from Latin canthus, wheel rim, from Celtic kantos, rim) + fraindre, to break (from Latin frangere, to break).
---L.
As in furniture, where an edge is champfered off at a 45° angle between two adjoining right-angled faces, but the Wikipedia article has many other examples, including architectural and in machining. The verb is much older (late 1500s) than the noun (1820s), as a back-formation from even older chamfering, from French chanfrein, beveled edge, from the past participle of Old French chanfreindre, to bevel, from chant, edge (from Vulgar Latin *cantus, corner, from Latin canthus, wheel rim, from Celtic kantos, rim) + fraindre, to break (from Latin frangere, to break).
---L.
