A wooden or metal brace, stay, or support used in construction to strengthen and connect structural members of a building.
From Afrikaans 'dwang' meaning a clamp or constraint, borrowed into English through South African construction terminology. The word likely derives from Dutch or German origins referring to something that forces or binds things together.
Builders borrowed this Afrikaans word because South Africa's construction industry was innovating with new bracing techniques that English didn't have good words for!
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