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joist

UK/d͡ʒɔɪst/US/d͡ʒɔɪst/
nounC1Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #14,464 of 15,258neutraltechnical · an editor’s judgement

Other forms: joists

A joist is one of the beams that carries a floor. Laid across the walls, with the boards nailed on top.

They run parallel at regular spacing and everything above them rests on them, which is why finding one is the first step in fixing anything to a ceiling and why a joist detector is a real tool. Cutting through one to run a pipe is how ceilings sag. Modern houses use engineered joists rather than solid timber. Rafters do the same job for a roof.

Pearson Scott Foresman · Public domain

Definitions of joist

  1. 1nounjoistA horizontal beam supporting a floor or ceiling.C1

    “They had to replace two rotten joists.”

Where it comes from

A joist is something lying down. Old French giste was the feminine past participle of gesir, to lie, so the beam is named for its posture rather than its job.

  1. Proto-Indo-European

    *(H)yeh₁-

  2. Old French

    giste

  3. English, today

    joist

Built from

  • gesir · Old French — to lie down

From Old French giste, feminine of gist, the past participle of gesir (“to lie down”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in Tools & DIY

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joist in the wild

  • A joist is a horizontal structural member used in framing to span an open space, often between beams that subsequently transfer loads to vertical members.

    Joist

  • When incorporated into a floor framing system, joists serve to provide stiffness to the subfloor sheathing, allowing it to function as a horizontal diaphragm.

    Joist

  • A collar beam may also double as a ceiling joist, providing a member for attaching drywall or other material while also serving to resist rafter sag.

    Collar beam

  • A rim joist's relationship to the joists is similar to what the top or bottom wall plate is to the studs.

    Rim joist

  • Collectively, the end joists and rim joists are called band joists, especially in regard to deck construction.

    Rim joist

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

Related words

the gesir family

gist

joist — used about once every 54,060 pages · #14,464 · point at the bar for the others