Panelling
Panelling (or paneling in the U.S.) is a millwork wall covering constructed from rigid or semi-rigid components. These are traditionally interlocking wood, but could be plastic or other materials.
Panelling was developed in antiquity to make rooms in stone buildings more comfortable. The panels served to insulate the room from the cold stone. In more modern buildings, such panelling is often installed for decorative purposes. Panelling, such as wainscoting and boiserie in particular, may be extremely ornate and is particularly associated with seventeenth and eighteenth century interior design, Victorian architecture in Britain, and its international contemporaries.
Wainscot paneling
The term wainscot (UK or US ) originally applied to high quality riven oak boards. The Oxford English Dictionary states that it derives from the medieval German wagenschot as well as wageschot or 'wall-board'. Johnson's Dictionary defined it thus:
Wainscot [wageschot, Dutch], the inner wooden covering of a wall.
