A louvre or covered opening on the roof of a kitchen or hall, for ventilation or to allow smoke to escape.
Example sentencesExamples
Above the femerell, which must have been more magnificent than the present one, stood a metal griffin with a vane.
Along the top of the roof there appears to liave been a sort of decorated parapet or fret-work; and in the middle rose the "femerell," or louvre, unfortunately destroyed about a century and a half ago.
The Gothic principle of "decorating structure" was freely applied and the femerells or louvers were often objects of much architectural interest.
Thomas Johnson of London carved the "Kynge's beasts" on the battlements and on the femerell or lantern of the great Hall.
In the Book of Wolsey's Expenses at Christ Church, Oxford, is an entry relating to the "femerell of the new kitchen."
Synonyms
stack, smokestack
Origin
Late Middle English: from Old French fumeril 'louvre'.