ais

plank, board

noun AY Rare

Origin: Old French ais, from Latin axis 'board'

Usage Note

Ais is a somewhat literary or technical term for a flat wooden board, more common in historical texts than in everyday modern French. In bookbinding, les ais are the wooden covers of a manuscript or early printed book. The more everyday word for a plank is planche.

Examples

"Les ais du parquet ont craqué."

Natural Translation

The floorboards creaked.

Literal Translation

The planks of the parquet creaked.

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