ledge
n. countablen. a narrow shelf that sticks out from a wall, a window, or a cliff.
n. a narrow, horizontal surface projecting from a vertical face, such as a wall or a rock formation.
He placed a small plant on the window ledge.
The climber rested for a moment on a narrow rock ledge before continuing his ascent up the cliff.
The architect designed the building with deep stone ledges above each window to provide natural shade during the hottest hours of the afternoon.
From Middle English legge, from Old English leċġ (“bar, crossbeam”), from Proto-West Germanic laggju (“layer, strip, ledge, rung, bar”), from Proto-Germanic lagjō (“layer, stratum”), from Proto-Indo-European legʰ- (“to lie, recline”). Cognate with West Frisian lêch (“a layer of sheaves on a threshing floor”), Dutch leg (“layer”), German Low German Legg (“wrinkle, fold, flat layer, stratum”), Middle High German legge, lecke (“position, layer, stratum, tier; pleat, hem”). Related to Middle English leggen (“to lay, apply”), from Old English leċġan (“to lay”); and Old English ġeleċġ (“positioning, arrangement, layout”) as in Old English limġeleċġ (“the disposition of the limbs, form, shape”). More at lay.
Shortening of legislature.
Commonly used in architectural contexts (window ledge) or geological descriptions (rock ledge).