Volet: A shutter, not a surface

The French word ‘volet’ refers to a window shutter: a hinged panel fitted inside or outside a window to regulate light, heat, air, and security. The term comes from Old French ‘volet’, formed from ‘voler’, meaning ‘to move lightly’, ultimately from Latin ‘volare’, ‘to fly’. The name reflects the ease with which the panel moves into place rather than its material or decoration.

Earlier French usage applied ‘volet’ more broadly to small hinged panels, including interior shutters and cupboard leaves, but modern French has narrowed the word to window shutters and shutter-like fittings. The photograph here was taken near the top of the hill in Cordes-sur-Ciel on a hot day. The half-open shutters sit beside a trompe-l’œil workshop sign, part of a long local tradition of painted trade signage applied directly to building walls. Together, the image and the word show how architectural vocabulary often preserves function long after forms and styles have changed.