Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Gable

Gable , noun

A cable. [Archaic] — Chapman

Gable , noun

[Old English gable, gabil, French gable, from Late Latin gabalum front of a building, prob. of German or Scand. origin; compare Old High German gibil, German giebel gable, Icelandic gafl, Gothic gibla pinnacle; perh. akin to Greek {not transcribed} head, and English cephalic, or to German gabel fork, Anglo-Saxon geafl, English gaffle, Latin gabalus a kind of gallows.]

(a)
(Architecture) The vertical triangular portion of the end of a building, from the level of the cornice or eaves to the ridge of the roof. Also, a similar end when not triangular in shape, as of a gambrel roof and the like.
(b)
(Architecture) The end wall of a building, as distinguished from the front or rear side.
(c)
(Architecture) A decorative member having the shape of a triangular gable, such as that above a Gothic arch in a doorway.
Collocations (4)
Bell gable , See under Bell.
Gable roof , a double sloping roof which forms a gable at each end.
Gable wall , Same as Gable (b).
Gable window , a window in a gable.