ashlar

Meanings

1. Masonry employing flat and well-squared stone or brick, creating an appearance similar to wooden flooring.
2. Stone hewn and finished to create such masonry, either completely or as a facade over an earthen or rubble core.
3. A stone intended for hurling by means of a catapult or similar device.

Etymology

From Middle English assheler, acheler, etc., from forms of Old French esselier (“wooden support, traverse beam”), from Medieval Latin ascelāris and assellāris (equivalent to a diminutive of early forms of ais (“plank”)), variant of *axillāris (attested only after the Renaissance), from Latin axilla (“little plank”) + -āris (“-ary: forming adjectives”), from axis (“axle, plank”) + -illa (“-ella: forming diminutives”).