Added 10 October 2026

cantilever

/ˈkantɪliːvə/ noun

noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about cantilever at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

A beam anchored at one end and projecting into space, such as a long bracket projecting from a wall to support a balcony.
cantilever arch cantilever arm cantilever armchair cantilever beam cantilever bracket cantilever brake cantilever bridge cantilever crane cantilever fin cantilever frame cantilever girder cantilever landing gear cantilever moment cantilever monoplane cantilever mounting cantilever roof cantilever roof bar cantilever sheet-piles cantilever single-strut landing gear cantilever span cantilever spring cantilever timbering cantilever tower crane cantilever truss cantilever-type drilling mast cantilever wall cantilever wing
A beam anchored at one end and used as a lever within a microelectromechanical system.
cantilever circuit
A technique, similar to the spread eagle, in which the skater travels along a deep edge with knees bent and bends their back backwards, parallel to the ice.

First attested in the 1660s, probably from cant (“slope, edge, corner”) + lever, but the earliest form (c. 1610) was cantlapper. First element may also be Spanish can (“dog”), an architect's term for an end of timber jutting out of a wall, on which beams rested.