mantel

Meanings

Noun

• The shelf above a fireplace which may be also a structural support for the masonry of the chimney.
• A maneuver to surmount a ledge, involving pushing down on the ledge to bring up the body. Also called a mantelshelf.

Verb

• To surmount a ledge by pushing down on the ledge to bring up the body.

Related

Similar words

• mantelshelf

Origin

• From Middle English mantel, from Old English mentel, later reinforced by cognate Anglo-Norman mantel, both from Latin mantēllum, diminutive of mantum, from Celtiberian *mantum, from a Proto-Indo-European root shared with Old Norse mǫttull.