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A window is an opening in a wall, door, roof or vehicle that allows the passage of light and, if not closed or sealed, air and sound.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Window )〕 Modern windows are usually glazed or covered in some other transparent or translucent material. Windows are held in place by frames.〔 Many glazed windows may be opened, to allow ventilation, or closed, to exclude inclement weather.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Understanding Window Terminology )〕 Windows often have a latch or similar mechanism to lock the window shut. Types include the eyebrow window, fixed windows, single-hung and double-hung sash windows, horizontal sliding sash windows, casement windows, awning windows, hopper windows, tilt and slide windows (often door-sized), tilt and turn windows, transom windows, sidelight windows, jalousie or louvered windows, clerestory windows, skylights, roof windows, roof lanterns, bay windows, oriel windows, thermal, or Diocletian, windows, picture windows, emergency exit windows, stained glass windows, French windows, and double- and triple paned windows. The Romans were the first known to use glass for windows, a technology likely first produced in Roman Egypt, in Alexandria ca. 100 AD. Paper windows were economical and widely used in ancient China, Korea and Japan. In England, glass became common in the windows of ordinary homes only in the early 17th century whereas windows made up of panes of flattened animal horn were used as early as the 14th century. Modern-style floor-to-ceiling windows became possible only after the industrial plate glass making processes were perfected. ==Etymology== The word ''window'' originates from the Old Norse 'vindauga', from 'vindr – wind' and 'auga – eye', i.e., ''wind eye''. In Norwegian Nynorsk and Icelandic the Old Norse form has survived to this day (in Icelandic only as a less used synonym to ''gluggi''), in Swedish the word ''vindöga'' remains as a term for a hole through the roof of a hut, and in the Danish language 'vindue' and Norwegian Bokmål 'vindu', the direct link to 'eye' is lost, just like for 'window'. The Danish (but not the Bokmål) word is pronounced fairly similarly to ''window''. '' Window'' is first recorded in the early 13th century, and originally referred to an unglazed hole in a roof. ''Window'' replaced the Old English ''eagþyrl'', which literally means 'eye-hole,' and 'eagduru' 'eye-door'. Many Germanic languages however adopted the Latin word 'fenestra' to describe a window with glass, such as standard Swedish 'fönster', or German 'Fenster'. The use of ''window'' in English is probably because of the Scandinavian influence on the English language by means of loanwords during the Viking Age. In English the word ''fenester'' was used as a parallel until the mid-18th century and ''fenestration'' is still used to describe the arrangement of windows within a façade. Also, words such as "defenestration" are in use, meaning to throw something out of a window. From Webster's 1828 Dictionary: ''Window'', n. (The vulgar pronunciation is windor, as if from the Welsh gwyntdor, wind-door. ) However, 20th and 21st century etymology shows that the word came from Old Norse vindauga, from vindr ‘wind’ + auga ‘eye.’.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=New Oxford American Dictionary )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Window」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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