An archaic or dialectal term for a groundsill or foundation timber in a building; the lowest timber or beam supporting a structure.
From Old English grūnd (ground) plus sill (beam or threshold), possibly influenced by Dutch or German. It appears in Middle English and Early Modern English texts describing building construction.
Words like 'grundsil' show us how Old English and Dutch/German influenced each other in building terminology—different languages borrowed and modified each other's construction words, especially after the Norman Conquest!
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