the.com/banister
the only stairway feature kids treat as a vehicle and parents treat as a lawsuit
means the handrail along a staircase, together with its upright supports, that you grip for balance as you climb or descend.
from A worn-down form of 'baluster,' the word for one of those little turned pillars holding up a railing. 'Baluster' came through French and Italian from the Latin 'balaustium,' meaning the flower of the wild pomegranate — apparently because the swelling, double-curved shape of the carved supports reminded someone of the half-open pomegranate bloom. Over time English mouths slurred 'baluster' into 'banister,' and the whole railing took the name of its decorative posts.
- name origin
- corrupted from baluster, named after pomegranate flower shape
- slide physics
- smooth wood, gravity, zero brakes, regrettable speed
- baluster count
- old code: gaps under four inches keep toddlers in
- newel post
- the chunky bottom pillar holding everything together