A shelf is an architectural or design element that allows you to hold something.
A shelf is an element of architecture or design that serves as a support for something. It is an elongated horizontal shelf that is fixed to a wall so that things can be placed on its surface .
For example: “When I was a child, I had a shelf full of tin soldiers in my room,” “My wife wants me to install a shelf in the kitchen so she can store the jars with noodles, rice and other products,” “The shelf of trophies is one of the great prides of the club: there we house all the cups we win.”
The etymology of shelf
Other names by which this object is known are shelf and shelf , the latter being the one that seems to house the most curious etymology. Although the origin of the word is not known with certainty, it is believed that it may have derived from manáquil , a Hispanic Arabic voice in plural form whose singular, anqálah , comes from minqalah , a term that can be translated as "support." or " bank ".
Julio Casares Sánchez was an important figure in the language of the late 19th century ; He was born in Granada in 1877 and made invaluable contributions in various fields, including folology, lexicography and literary criticism. One of them was the "Ideological Dictionary of the Spanish Language" , a work published in 1942 that reflects the result of a deep work of research and systematization of our language .
In said dictionary, some of the synonyms that are added to shelf are anaquelería, andana, platform, plúteo, shelf, table , shelf, poyata and velonera. On the other hand, referring to the kitchen area and its traditional furniture, it is possible to find vasera, sobrado, sideboard, jug and bowl. In architecture, for its part, there is the term corbel . In all cases, there are many uses and variations for each word, as well as the preference for one or the other depending on the region.
Books can be stored and displayed on a shelf.
Its characteristics
The shelves can have different characteristics. It can be a shelf made of wood , iron , plastic or other material that is fixed to the wall through different techniques.
In some cases, the shelves are screwed, in others they are nailed and there are even shelves that stick to the wall.
What is displayed on a shelf
It is common for shelves to be used to display certain objects . In a children's room, a shelf allows you to collect and display different dolls, miniature cars, etc. A football club, for its part, can display the different trophies it has achieved throughout its history on a shelf.
As can be seen in several of the examples presented above, some of the objects that are placed on a shelf have a certain sentimental value , either because they allow their owner to remember someone special, or because they symbolize a victory in a certain competition.
It is important to note that placing a small sculpture or trophy on a shelf is not always done with the intention of other people seeing it; Depending on the space in which they are located, the objective may be ostentation , but also the close and daily presence of said objects, to feel more intensely those memories they evoke.
It is also common for shelves to be used as libraries , housing books . Thanks to its characteristics, it is possible to place the books on the shelf and see at a glance the title of each one on its spine.
Fastening elements
When the shelves must support a lot of weight , they use different fastening elements, such as brackets or additional supports for nails and screws.
In fact, a shelf can be part of a more complex structure, having walls and legs, such as typical supermarket shelves.