1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Parquetry

PARQUETRY (Fr. parqueterie, from parquet, flooring, originally a small compartment), a term applied to a kind of mosaic of wood used for ornamental flooring. Materials contrasting in colour and grain, such as oak, walnut, cherry, lime, pine, &c. are employed; and in the more expensive kinds the richly coloured tropical woods are also used. The patterns of parquet flooring are entirely geometrical and angular (squares, triangles, lozenges, &c.), curved and irregular forms being avoided on account of the expense and difficulty of fitting. There are two classes of parquetry in use—veneers and solid parquet. The veneers are usually about a quarter of an inch in thickness, and are laid over already existing floors. Solid parquet of an inch or more in thickness consists of single pieces of wood grooved and tongued together, having consequently the pattern alike on both sides.