What does jointer mean?
A jointer is a woodworking tool or machine used to make wood straight, smooth, and accurately fitted for joining. Its most familiar form is a plane that pares and smooths the surfaces and edges of timber, allowing boards to meet cleanly in furniture, doors, cabinets, and other woodwork. Although its name suggests that it performs the joining, a jointer usually prepares the material beforehand; the actual connection may be made later with glue, screws, nails, or another fastening method. The word is especially associated with professional and serious woodworking, where precision is important. In some contexts, especially in British English, jointer can also refer to a person whose role is to join or connect parts, but the woodworking sense is the dominant modern meaning.
A woodworking tool, especially a plane or machine, used to smooth and true wood and prepare its surfaces or edges for a joint.
"He used the jointer to flatten the board before making the cabinet."
The term is chiefly used in woodworking and joinery.
A person or thing whose function is to join or connect parts.
"The jointer checked that all the sections of the frame were properly aligned."
This sense is less common in modern English and is especially associated with British usage.
The plural is used when referring to more than one woodworking tool, machine, or person who joins parts.
"The workshop contains two joiners, one for rough stock and another for finished pieces."
A jointer does not join wood directly; it prepares the edges so accurately that the finished pieces fit together with precision.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does jointer come from?
Jointer derives from the verb join by adding the suffix -er, an agent or instrument-forming suffix. In woodworking, the name developed for a tool used to prepare surfaces that would be joined together. The same root appears in related forms such as join, joint, and juncture, all of which express a connection or meeting of parts.
Related word forms
How jointer is actually used
Chiefly a woodworking term. In British English, the term may also occur in more general senses involving a person who joins or connects things, but in modern usage it most often denotes a woodworking tool or machine.
Easily confused with jointer
A joint is the place where two pieces meet, whereas a jointer is the woodworking tool used to prepare surfaces for making that connection.
A joiner is a craftsman who constructs or fits woodwork, while a jointer is primarily a tool or machine for working joints in wood.