The word “sconce”.

A number of years ago I had the chance to do one of those bucket-list things and design and build the house in which we currently live. Well, “design and build” really means herding an army of construction people and answering questions about faucets, door handles, flooring, paint and a bazillion other choices you will inevitably live to regret for the rest of your life. Bucket list indeed.

One of those choices had to do with lighting – placement, type, etc – and this is where I first encountered the curious little word “sconce”. Not to be confused with “scone” which would create some delicious yet strangely darkened spaces, sconce lighting is the

type that fits directly on the wall, like those flickering torches attached to the granite slabs of medieval castles.  Modern sconce lighting looks like this

or this.

The word sconce hearkens back hundreds of years, and meant a screen or partition erected to defend the castle gate or wall. It’s a fun word to say at a party like “I don’t know about you but I prefer sconce lighting”, and watch as people slowly back away.