jerkin head
noun Architecture
The end of a roof that is hipped for only part of its height, leaving a truncated gable: jerkin-head gable...
- To the north of the main gable, there extends a roof ridge terminating in a jerkin-head side gable.
- New structures should have jerkin heads, the roof gradient should be 33%, and the roofs should be tiled.
- The double-tract building with a vestibule on the axis had a pitched roof with jerkin heads and was covered with shingle.
Origin
Mid 19th century: perhaps from an alteration of jerking (from the jerk1 (verb)) + head; compare also with earlier kirkin-head (apparently arbitrarily formed from kirk) in the same sense.