Types of windows?

Witch_turtle

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My question is a simple one. What is the name for the type of old fashioned fixed window made up of smaller panes of glass?

Originally I had used "glass-paned window", but what narrator would ever feel the need to specify that a window was made of glass? It felt silly. But, I would like to name the window just to create the atmosphere of this particular setting.

The setting is an old fashioned "manor" type building in the midst of a grungy/futuristic city. I would use the word "window" by itself for any other setting in the city, but inside this building it feels too modern.

Any ideas? What would you call it?
 

Puma

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Sash window if there are two frames containing window panes and the two frames slide up and down to open the window.

Casement window if the window is hinged somewhat like a door and opens out (or I guess in).

When you start to look at historic types of windows, terms such as 6 over 6, 8 over 8, and even 12 over 12 are used to describe how many panes of glass are in the sashes. Hope that helps. But you also might want to do some Googling on types of windows. Puma
 

Rolling Thunder

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Much will depend on the actual style of the house. Tudor and Jacobean windows had different names than Georgian or Victorian, etc.

If architecture is of prime concern in your story go to the library and see if they have a copy of The Elements of Style by Stephen Calloway/Elizabeth Cromley.

They get quite specific: oculi, quatrefoil, Venetian, etc.

The question is, will your reader understand or even care?
 

girlyswot

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Leaded window is the term I think you're looking for.

A sash window is quite different - it consists of two large panes of glass, in separate frames, which can be pulled up or down to open the window. Often, these days, the sash can't be pulled very far, to prevent people from falling out of these windows.
 

ChristineR

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Leaded window is only when the panes are separated by strips of lead (or lead substitute). Think stained glass. If it's just a wooden frame with multiple rectangular panes, I think it's just multi-paned or something like that. "The elegant old wooden windows, with their dozens of small rectangular panes..."

Puma and Rolling Thunder say there are more specific names, which makes sense in the building trade, but very few people will know what they are, I think.
 

Kathie Freeman

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It think what you mean is mullioned window. That is when an ordinary wood-framed window has multiple panes separated by smaller wood frames. A lot of modern windows imitate this with plastic or metal strips between the panes.
 

Witch_turtle

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Thanks for the input. Yeah, I didn't want to get too technical or detailed, because as stated, the reader probably won't understand or care, and the specific architecture isn't direly important to the story. Just one word or short phrase to give some imagery.

Thanks again, these suggestions are very helpful! :)
 

Maryn

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Leaded if the little panes are separated with strips of lead, like stained glass is. Mullioned if they're beveled. At least that's what the realtor told me when I asked about the windows in this house. Right before she told me to touch one and see they're neither, just cheesy fakes.

Maryn, whose house has delusions of grandeur
 

Kathie Freeman

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Mullioned windows have the panes separated by wood strips. Leaded glass refers to the lead content of the glass itself. Beveled glass means clear leaded glass panes separated by lead cames, but the edges of the individual panes are (ahem) beveled.
 

RJK

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I think the term is Casement window. Later they became hinged casement windows that swung open from the right or left. All were made of multiple panes of glass, mullioned together, because it was near impossible to make a large pane. The frames were normally made from wrought iron. some from wood, depending on the availability of materials and craftsmen.
 

ChristineR

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Leaded glass is used to refer to both the lead strips and the glass with actual lead in it. Bevels are the slanted edges sometimes seen in glass window pieces and elsewhere. Beveled glass is often leaded (in the sense of being placed into lead frames) but it doesn't have to be.

A lot of classy old Victorian decorative windows are both leaded and beveled.

According to Wikipedia, the term for the wood bars is "muntins," but some people use "mullion" interchangeably, even though mullion has another meaning as well. Mullion is a structural element, and is usually the vertical bar between double doors, but it can also be between windows.
 
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Kathie Freeman

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I think a casement window is one that swings open on a hinge as oposed to sliding. We had those in a '50's house in Fresno.