deckle
(ˈdɛk(ə)l)
Also deckel.
[a. Ger. deckel in same sense, prop. ‘little cover, lid, tympan’, and in other technical applications, dim. of decke cover.]
1. A contrivance in a paper-making machine to confine the pulp within the desired limits, and determine the size or width of the sheet: a. in hand paper-making, a thin rectangular frame of wood fitting close upon the mould on which the pulp is placed; b. in a paper-machine, a continuous band or strap on either side of the apron. Hence used as a measure of the width of paper, as ‘50-inch deckle paper,’ and short for deckle-edge.
| 1810 [see deckle-strap in 2]. 1816 Specif. Cameron's Patent No. 4002. 2 The deckle being attached to the carriage, falls on the bottom of the mould. 1858 Simmonds Dict. Trade, Deckle..also the rough or raw edge of paper. 1888 N. & Q. 7th Ser. V. 227 It seems as if the deckle, fitting on the mould, should produce a sheet of paper with a smooth and even edge. |
2. Comb. deckle edge, the rough uncut edge of a sheet of paper, formed by the deckle; also
attrib. = next;
deckle-edged a., having a rough uncut edge, as hand-made paper;
deckle-strap, see 1 b.
| 1874 Knight Dict. Mech. s.v., The uncut edge of paper is known as the *deckel edge. 1884 Bookseller 6 Nov. 1176/2 The deckle edges are left at the side and bottom, the top edge alone being cut. 1887 Nimmo's Catal. Oct., One Hundred Copies on fine deckle-edge royal 8vo paper. |
| 1888 N. & Q. 7th Ser. V. 227/2 *Deckle-edged. This term has lately been adopted in the advertisements of books to indicate that the edges of the paper have not been cut or trimmed, so that it is equivalent to..‘rough edged’. 1899 T. Veblen Theory of Leisure Class vi. 163 A somewhat cruder type, printed on hand-laid deckel-edged paper. 1955 S. C. Gilmour Paper vii. 65 Small sizes of deckle-edged notepaper are made in this way. |
| 1810 Trans. Soc. Encourag. Arts XXVIII. 193 The *deckle-straps..are made perfectly smooth and true. 1875 Ure Dict. Arts III. 490 We have to notice the deckle or boundary straps..which regulate the width of the paper. |