a fanlight is always semicircular, whereas t'other suggests a rectangular shape.

I think USns always think of the transom as being openable. Dunno if that holds for fanlights, too.

I think USns always think of the transom as being openable.

Well, not quite. My house has a painful* number of transom windows, none of which open.




*because it's very hard to find window treatments for them

think of the transom as being openable

Well, at least theoretically.

Must I continually correct myself? Yes! Or someone will do it for you... I meant A figurative high pitched voice not a real high pitched voice. Well, why didn't you say so
I was going to say "...the whimpy nasal sound of the french..." but I didn't want to insult a whole nation.One and a half, actually®.Hi, belM

Must I be scrutinized by every Tom, Dick, and Jazzo?Yes! But it'll be alright, nobody really® cares...

I'm glad you left Harry out of this, he's sensitive *that way.

I am tempted to log off, and create a new user name...
Casandra!

didn't i say-- back at the beginning..transom windows are, i think are different than fan lights.. a fan light is a semi circle window above a door.. and it is fixed.

a transom is rectangluar, and opens by turning on a pivot

and this goes to you too dr. Bill... i pointed out i only really knew transom being used in the idiom "to come in over the transom"-- ie an unsolicited manuscripts.. same post back at the beginning..

i would edit that to say a transom doesn't have to open..
and sparteye- the correct window treatment requires a little bit of artistic skill. go to craft shop and buy 1) glass etching kit or 2) glass paint kit.

either etch a pattern on the glass (etch glass passes light, but cut down on glare..) or using "glue on" strips that look like lead, create (buy/copy)a stained glass design.

a real big advantage is.. transoms are fairly high up, and no one gets too close, so it looks good even if its not perfect.. You can practice on basement/ ground floor windows.. or on drinking glasses.. plain jane Libby's etch up nicely!

a fan light ...is fixed.

a transom ... opens by turning on a pivot

Yeahbut© you're one of USn, helen. What do the Brits say?

>you're one of USn, helen. What do the Brits say?

Not to put words into their mouths, but I'm sure they'll agree that Helen's one of USn!

I'm sure they'll agree that Helen's one of USn!

Hey! I'm the pedantic nitpicker here!

What do the Brits say?

Hey!

Dublin is suddenly British? Hey, back.

As an ex-pat Kiwi in Britain, I can categorically state that the British use the word ... for the little window over the door.

In Zild, however, all small windows, whether over a door or over a larger window, are known as fanlights. And a lot of them are hinged at the top and are opened by the use of a screw turned by a cord loop. Which inevitably either breaks or gets caught up in the screw mechanism, which in turn inevitably seizes solid so that the only way you can get the damned window open is to unscrew the whole damned contraption and heave in the bloody rubbish bin!

If it's your own home you then go out and buy a sliding catch type of thing. If it's a flat (apartment to you benighted people east of LA), you either nail it shut permanently or let the damned thing flap. [pant-pant-pant -e]

My house has a painful* number of ... windows
Well, what else WOULD windows be full of??

And in "Aussie" we say Fairy Floss...

To be honest, I don't think I've ever called it anything except the window over the front door. If a window's made up of small slats that open and close by being swung round a horizontal axis, I'd call it a louvre window, is that what you mean by a transom?

Bingley

I would agree that fanlights are fixed. They're particularly popular in Georgian architecture and you get some people who make whole studies about them. They come in a wide variety of patterns - mine has a number of interlocking oval shapes filling in the semi-circle, others look a bit like the sun with rays coming out of them, some are much fancier. If it's just got plain glass in it, then odds on the original was removed at some point and you've just got a poor imitation.
The fanlight is also usually where the house number is put.

made up of small slats that open and close by being swung round a horizontal axis

Not quite. The transom would be like one giant louvre rather than a bunch in parallel.

Louvre         transom
   \             \
   \              \
   \               \
   \                \
   \                 \

worthy of hangin' in the Louvre, ol feller!

In American architecture, fanlights were typical to the Adam, Colonial Revival, and Early Classical Revival styles. As was already mentioned, fanlights can be variously decorated; one very common version here is the spider light, in which the muntins and glazing are arranged to appear like a spider web.

Transoms can be made to open several ways; a pivot opening has the pivot in the middle of the window pane, so that it spins to become perpendicular to the frame; a hopper window pivots out from the bottom of the pane; and an awning window pivots out from the top of the pane.

"Window" comes from "wind holes," early openings which served principally to provide draft and emit smoke from internal fires.

The components of a window are:

head
jamb
sill
sash
frame
muntin
glazing

If in a wood-frame wall, the structure above the window is supported by a header; if in a masonry wall, the structure above the window is supported by a lintel.

And to complete the list of windows by opening type ... other windows can be fixed, single- or double-hung, casement, sliding or louver.

Dear Faldage: Does the Louvre have any louvers?