battantes

Battantes is a term used in architecture and carpentry, primarily in French, to designate the movable leaves of doors and windows that swing on hinges. The word derives from battant, meaning swinging, and appears in construction documentation, catalogs, and technical drawings. A battante refers to the leaf of a door or window that can be opened by pivoting on its hinges, in contrast with sliding sashes or fixed panels.

In practice, battantes can be single leaves or pairs. A common configuration is a single battante for interior doors or a pair of battantes on exterior doors. Hardware considerations include the selection and placement of hinges and latches, as well as strike plates, weather stripping, and thresholds. Materials range from solid wood to metals such as aluminum or steel, as well as composite and UPVC.

The term is most prevalent in French-language contexts; English-language sources usually translate it as swing door leaf or hinged leaf. In non-architectural usage, battantes is rare and may appear in regional catalogs or historical texts, or as a surname or place name depending on the language.

Outside architecture, the plural form battantes may be encountered in regional or historical references to sets of door or window leaves that swing, but it is not a widely used term in modern English. Understanding the term depends on the surrounding context, especially whether the reference is to interior or exterior openings and whether the leaf is decorative or load-bearing.