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Glite Dictionary
🏛️ Building corner stone 🖨️ Printing wedge 🧱 Arch top stone
quoin

quoin

9.9
A metal or wooden wedge that locks printing type in place
  • noun
  • /kwɔɪn/
  • Archaic
translation icon : cuña
  • Modern printing rarely uses the traditional quoin in letterpress work.

Examples

  • The printer secured the type with a quoin before starting the press.

  • The printer used a quoin to secure the type.

  • Adjusting the quoin tightly is essential to keep the layout stable during printing.

  • Do you know what a quoin is?

  • The printer placed a quoin in the chase to secure the printing form during production.

  • He adjusted the pressure by inserting a quoin under the type to ensure a clean print.

  • To stabilize the movable parts, the technician used a metal quoin as a locking mechanism.

Synonyms

coign
vsquoin
  • Archaic
9.9

A small wedge used by printers to hold type tightly in place

has identical meaning but is an alternative spelling
coigne
vsquoin
  • Archaic
9.9

A small wedge used to hold type tightly in a printing frame

has the same sense but represents another spelling variant

Surface Forms

quoin singular
quoins plural

Etymology

The word quoin comes from old French coing meaning 'wedge', from Latin cuneus 'wedge'. Printers used a small wedge to press and lock the type in place, so a printing quoin is the wedge used to hold a form tightly.