I-beam

English

This I-beam is used to support the first floor of a house.

Wide-flange I-beam.

Etymology

Since it resembles a capital letter I with serifs.

Noun

I-beam (plural I-beams)

1. (engineering) A beam with cross-section shaped like a capital letter I (with serifs top and bottom), used in construction.
2. (computing, graphical user interface) A cursor shaped like the letter I, usually indicating text that can be edited or selected.
   • 1992, Ben Ezzell, Borland C++ 3.0 programming:

     In general, the cursor image is the primary concern, with different types used to indicate selected functions such as I-beams or vertical bars for text editing, a pencil for drawing, or a hand with the index finger extended […]

Related terms

• I-girder

Translations

I-shaped beam

• Finnish: I-palkki
• Irish: I-bhíoma m
• Ottoman Turkish: پوترل (putrel)
• Polish: dwuteownik (pl) m
• Russian: двута́вр (ru) m (dvutávr), двута́вровая ба́лка f (dvutávrovaja bálka)
• Turkish: putrel (tr)

Anagrams

• Iambe, Mabie, abime