the.com/transom
the window over a door, snitching daylight and gossip between rooms that pretend to be sealed.
means A transom is a horizontal crossbar above a door or window, or the small window set into that space above a door.
from From Latin transtrum, a crossbeam or rower's bench, built on trans- ('across'). The word crossed into Middle English as 'transome,' meaning a horizontal beam spanning an opening, and only later settled onto the little window that fills the gap above a door.
- name origin
- From Latin transtrum, meaning crossbeam.
- airflow hack
- Pre-AC, they ventilated rooms while doors stayed locked.
- sailing too
- Also the flat stern of a boat.
- publishing slang
- Unsolicited manuscripts arrive over the transom.
uss constitution transom — 1797 wooden warship's stern transom, oldest commissioned naval vessel still afloat in boston harbor
transom window grand central — beaux-arts transom windows above ticket windows in nyc's grand central terminal, completed 1913
transom rowing shell — transom stern design used in competitive rowing shells to reduce weight while maintaining structural integrity