the.com/mortise
The hole that admits exactly one lover and rejects all impostors.
means A slot or cavity cut into a piece of wood (or other material) designed to receive a matching projection called a tenon, locking two pieces together.
from From French mortaise, whose own roots are murky — possibly connected to Arabic murtazz, meaning 'fixed in' or 'fastened,' though that link is debated by etymologists. It entered English in the medieval period alongside the carpentry it describes, the mortise-and-tenon joint being one of woodworking's oldest tricks for making two pieces of timber behave like one.
- pairs with
- tenon, its carved-to-fit soulmate
- predates
- nails and screws by millennia
- found in
- furniture joints and door locks alike
- etymology
- from Arabic murtazz, meaning fixed in