Glossary of Terms
Whether you’re a newbie or a seasoned pro, you’ll become fluent and confident with industry buzzwords and stop calling them ‘thingies.’
Glossary of Common Office Furniture Terms
To help you navigate the world of office systems furniture, we’ve compiled a mini-dictionary of the most commonly used terms you’ll encounter in our field.
This glossary will assist you in understanding the specific terminology used on our website and marketing materials for new, used, and refurbished office furniture.
Whether you’re looking for office cubicles, workstations, or commercial furniture solutions, this guide will provide clarity. If you don’t find a term here, by all means, ask us to explain.
Office Furniture Terms
1/2 High Shelf End
A panel that encloses the end of a shelf, preventing books, magazines, and other items from falling off.
Acoustical
Refers to dividers, movable walls, and cubicle partitions designed to absorb or control sound, making them ideal for noisy workplaces where quiet work areas are needed.
Articulating
Describes headrests, armrests, keyboard trays, and other furniture components that can be ergonomically adjusted to suit a user’s posture or positioning preferences.
Base Feed
A flexible electrical conduit that hardwires to the building and plugs into the office furniture.
Beltline Power
An access point located directly above the work surface, providing faster access to power, data, and communication connections, emphasizing plug-and-play usability.
Bin Box
An overhead storage cabinet with opening and closing doors.
CAD (Computer Aided Design)
A software application used to configure office furniture layouts. We use Giza, a sister software to AutoCAD, allowing us to create detailed 3D and 2D plans of your office space.
Cantilever
A bracket that mounts to office panel systems to support the work surface, eliminating the need for support legs.
Cloth Covered Hard
Hard surfaces, such as cubicle partitions, upholstered with cloth to enhance style or provide an acoustical effect.
Data Pole
A service pole without electrical or data wires, used to route these items from the ceiling to workstations, commonly used for islanded furniture within an office.
Divider
Panels used to separate work areas, commonly creating office cubicles.
Duplex Outlet
An electrical outlet that can be added to cubicles and workstations, accommodating two plugs for devices like computers and lamps.
Floor Supporting Ped
A piece of office furniture, such as a file cabinet, that supports a panel or work surface.
Free-Standing Partition
A lightweight panel with a tubular frame and “T” legs, allowing it to stand independently.
Hanging Ped
A short file cabinet that hangs from under a work surface without touching the floor.
Jumpers
Electrical components used to connect two powered panels together.
Keyboard Drawer
A tray for holding computer keyboards, affixed under a work surface, that glides in and out.
Keyboard Tray
A piece of equipment affixed under a desk to hold a keyboard and mouse, usually fully articulating for ergonomic comfort.
Kick Plates
Also known as raceway covers.
Low-Voltage Cabling
Data and telephone wires running from the phone/server room to individual workstations.
Panels
Components of office furniture that make up cubicles and workstations, such as dividers, partitions, work surfaces, or shelving.
Ped (or Pedestal)
A drawer unit, often a file cabinet, located beneath the work surface, used to house files and personal items.
Power Pole
A pole used to connect power and low-voltage cabling from the ceiling to islanded office furniture.
Power Whips
Power sources that connect a building’s electrical supply to office furniture systems, such as cubicles and workstations.
Raceway
A concealed cavity within a panel system where power and low-voltage cabling is distributed, typically located in the bottom, middle, or top portions of a panel.
Raceway Covers
Strips of plastic or metal that conceal electrical and phone wires or fiber optic cables routed through office furniture.
Refurbished
Office furniture that has been tested, repaired, or had missing components replaced to restore it to proper working condition.
Remanufactured
Office furniture, such as cubicles or workstations, reprocessed by the manufacturer to restore it to a like-new condition.
Seated Privacy
Refers to cubicles with partitions around 54” high, providing users with a generous level of privacy while seated.
Systems Furniture
An office furniture system comprised of panels, work surfaces, and shelves, with cubicles and workstations being the most common forms.
Tackable
Wall panels made of fiberboard, allowing users to easily affix pins, tacks, or staples for posting documents.
Task Light
Office lighting affixed under overhead storage shelves or cabinets, designed to project light over a reading area, cubicle, or workstation.
Work Surface
A high-pressure, commercial-grade composite wood core table top covered with laminate or veneer, used as a writing or working surface in cubicles.
Workstations
Work areas, including cubicles and desks, where employees carry out tasks on equipment such as computers or telephones.
For terms not covered her, please contact us
for more information.