louver

Alternative forms

• louvre (mainly UK)

Etymology

From Old French lover.

Pronunciation

• (UK) enPR: lo͞oʹvə, IPA^(key): /ˈluːvə/
• (US) enPR: lo͞oʹvər, IPA^(key): /ˈluːvɚ/

Noun

louver (plural louvers)

1. A type of turret on the roof of certain medieval buildings designed to allow ventilation or the admission of light. [from 14th c.]
   • 1596, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, VI.10:

     But darknesse dred and daily night did hover / Through all the inner parts, wherein they dwelt; / Ne lightned was with window, nor with lover, / But with continuall candle-light […].

2. (chiefly in the plural) A series of sloping overlapping slats or boards which admit air and light but exclude rain etc. [from 16th c.]
3. Any of a system of slits, as in the hood of an automobile, for ventilation.

See also

• jalousie

Anagrams

• Louvre, louvre, velour

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lu.ve/

Verb

louver

1. (transitive) to drill a hole in a stone for the attachment of a wedge