A vertical support or prop, particularly in mining or construction contexts, used to hold up or support a structure.
Likely from Old French 'estançon' or Spanish 'estantón,' possibly derived from Latin 'stare' (to stand). The word appears in technical English texts about structural support.
Estantions were literally lifelines in medieval and Renaissance mines—without these wooden or stone props supporting the tunnel roofs, cave-ins would kill workers constantly, so a good estantion was a matter of survival!
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