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Previous Thread Next Thread Print Thread Newel v. Baluster (& Newel v. Newel Post) #181799 01/16/09 05:59 PM Joined: Jan 2009 Posts: 1 M miami OP stranger OP miami stranger M Joined: Jan 2009 Posts: 1 Today's word, newel, lists as the secondary meaning "2. A post supporting the handrail of a staircase." While that's correct as far as it goes, I have always understood a newel post (on a non-spiral stair) to be a comparatively large post extending above the rail, usually at the bottom end of the handrail or at a landing, while all the other, smaller posts supporting a stair (or any other) handrail are called balusters (or, collectively, a balustrade). In the below picture, I would have called the five larger posts which extend above the handrail (the ones with the garlanded urns on top) newel posts, and all the smaller ones balusters. Maybe it would be useful to define 'newel' more precisely, to maintain the distinction between newels and balusters? As a secondary matter, I've always heard them called "newel posts," rather than just "newels." It's entirely possible that "newel post" is a blatant redundancy, or perhaps a regional variant (I'm from Mississippi). So, what's the thinking? Anyone else think the newel definition is perhaps a bit vague? D And, do you call them 'newels' or 'newel posts'? Clay Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: Newel v. Baluster (& Newel v. Newel Post) miami #182252 01/31/09 11:58 PM Joined: Jun 2008 Posts: 9,919 Likes: 3 Land of the Flat Water LukeJavan8 Carpal Tunnel LukeJavan8 Carpal Tunnel Joined: Jun 2008 Posts: 9,919 Likes: 3 Land of the Flat Water Hello, and it is good to have you here in the Forums. Hope you enjoy your stay and be welcome; and sorry, I have not a clue to your query. But someone will. Patience. Luke ----please, draw me a sheep---- Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: Newel v. Baluster (& Newel v. Newel Post) miami #182260 02/01/09 07:06 AM Joined: Feb 2008 Posts: 1,067 Tasmania The Pook old hand The Pook old hand Joined: Feb 2008 Posts: 1,067 Tasmania Well, looking at the construction of the one in the picture, it is true that the large posts you would call Newell posts are supporting the ballustrade. The other smaller ones would not support it by themselves - it would just twist and fall apart. The ballustrade is supported primarily by the nails or dowelling that connects it to the Newell post and only secondarily by the smaller ones under it. Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: Newel v. Baluster (& Newel v. Newel Post) The Pook #182298 02/02/09 04:30 AM Joined: Aug 2002 Posts: 2,154 British Columbia, Canada Z Zed Pooh-Bah Zed Pooh-Bah Z Joined: Aug 2002 Posts: 2,154 British Columbia, Canada I would say newel post rather than newel for the big ones. I don't remember what the small ones are called although I think I would recognize the name if I heard it. Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: Newel v. Baluster (& Newel v. Newel Post) Zed #182317 02/02/09 05:00 PM Joined: Jul 2005 Posts: 1,773 Apple Valley, CA, USA D dalehileman Pooh-Bah dalehileman Pooh-Bah D Joined: Jul 2005 Posts: 1,773 Apple Valley, CA, USA mi: It's striking that I'm also one of those compulsive folk who needs to know what everything is called and so have wondered the very same thing myself. After looking into it a bit I concluded that these terms are somewhat nebulous With continued use the meaning of a word undergoes a semantic shift, that I like to call "smearing," that affords it wider application. A drive drive drive drive is the flight of a ball in a baseball game, the outcome of which results in an automobile trip by the all-time home-run champion to a venue in which culturally-acquired concern for the proliferation of a keychain semiconductor memory is sponsored through the profits of a lumber mill whose continued existencce depends upon the legalization of dredging a shallow river intended to convey logs downstream for further processing Another case in point: Note for instance, "venue", which used to be a quasi-legal term meaning the location or county in which the event underlying an action occurred. Now, it seems, you can use it to mean "place" or "event": What's your venue for today dalehileman Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Moderated by  Jackie  Hop To General Topics ------  Information and announcements  Q&A about words  Wordplay and fun  Words and languages in schools  Miscellany  Weekly Themes  Looking for (writers, speakers,... 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