Chamfer

(or Champfer), an arris or angle which is slightly pared off is said to be chamfered: a chamfer resembles a splay, but is much smaller, and is usually taken off equally on the two sides; it applies to wood-work as well as stone. In the Early English and Decorated styles, more especially in the former, chamfers frequently have' ornamental terminations of several kinds, some of which are sufficiently marked to be characteristic of the date of the architecture, and they are more varied, and produce a stronger effect, than might be expected in such minute features. The angles of Early English buttresses are very commonly chamfered.