Meanings
plural bressummers · alternative breastsummer · alternative bressemer · alternative bressumer · alternative brestsummer · alternative breastsommer · alternative bressomer
- architectureA large, horizontal supporting beam which bears the weight of a wall starting on a first or higher floor, particularly when exposed or used to support a jetty (timber-frame overhang construction).
Once the floor joists were in position, the framing of the next storey could continue, with a bressummer laid along their ends.
1986, R. J. Brown, Timber-Framed Buildings of England, London: R. Hale, →ISBN, page 631 more example
East Lodge at Queen's Park, Crewe, dates from 1887-1888. Its bressummer inscription commemorates the Jubilee of Queen Victoria and the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Grand Junction Railway.
2022 September 7, Dr Joseph Brennan, “Railway towns and a social revolution”, in RAIL, number 965, page 56, photo caption
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
Alteration of breastsummer, from breast (“front or forward part”) + summer (“beam”).
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
bressummer. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bressummer
“bressummer.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bressummer. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “bressummer,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bressummer.
Source: bressummer on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.