Muntin (original) (raw)

The narrow wood bars that hold and separate panes of glass in a window sash.

Not to be on fused with mullion,which is a larger dividing member between multiple windows.

Mullions and Muntins

When a very large glazed [glass] area was desired before the middle of the nineteenth century, such as in the large windows seen in Gothic churches or Elizabethan palaces, the openings necessarily required division into a framework of mullions and transoms, often of stone.

It was further necessary for each glazed panel, sash or casement to be further subdivided by muntins or lead cames because large panes of glass were reserved primarily for use as mirrors, being far too costly to use for glazing windows or doors.

...[mullion] is also confused with the "muntin" (or "glazing bar" in the UK) which is the precise word for the very small strips of wood or metal that divide a sash into smaller glass "panes" or "lights".