QUOINS (an old variant spelling of "

See also:

• COIN
• COIN (older forms of the word are coyne, quoin and coign, all derived through the O. Fr. coing, and cuigne from Lat. cuneus, a wedge)

coin," from

See also:

• LAT

Lat.

See also:

• CUNEUS (Latin for " wedge "; plural, cunei)

cuneus, a

See also:

• WEDGE (O. Eng. wecg, a mass of metal, cognate with Dutch wig, wigge, Dan. vaegge, &c.; in Lith. the cognate form outside Teut. is found in wagis, a peg, spigot; there is no connexion with " weigh," " weight," which must be referred to the root wegh, to li

wedge)  , in architecture, the term for the external angle of a building, generally applied to the ashlar masonry employed to stop the rubble masonry or brickwork of the wall at the angles, as also of buttresses, doorways or projecting features . In Saxon work the quoins were built with large stones laid horizontally and vertically in alternate courses, technically known as " long and short " work . Sometimes, to give greater importance to the angles of towers, the quoin stones are rusticated, and this treatment is found extensively employed in ancient German towns . At Eastbury Manor House in Essex, built in brick, the quoins at the angles of the walls, doorway and windows were plastered in imitation of stonework .