A display cabinet is a piece of furniture with glazed doors or sides designed to show objects while protecting them from dust and knocks. Most of the vocabulary that surrounds it falls into five groups: the type of cabinet, the glass, the construction and finish, the hardware, and the lighting. Once you know the terms in each group, product descriptions become much easier to compare, and you can tell at a glance whether a cabinet will suit your room and your belongings.
This glossary gathers the words you are likely to meet when browsing our modern display cabinets UK range, or any cabinet listing, and explains each in plain English. Many of the same terms apply across our wider living room furniture UK sale collection, so it is a useful reference whenever you are choosing storage for the home.
Display cabinet: The general term for a cabinet with glass doors, glass sides or both, designed to show its contents. It may be tall or low, freestanding or wall mounted.
Vitrine: A traditional name, borrowed from French, for a glass fronted cabinet used to display fine objects. Today it usually describes a cabinet glazed on several sides.
Curio cabinet: A cabinet intended for small decorative objects, or curios. Curio cabinets often have glass on three or four sides, mirrored backs and internal lighting.
China cabinet: A display cabinet traditionally used for dinner services, glassware and serving pieces. It often has glazed doors above and closed cupboards or drawers below.
Highboard: A tall cabinet, usually taller than it is wide, that may combine glazed and closed sections. The term is common in contemporary furniture.
Lowboard: A low, wide cabinet, sometimes with glass doors, often used beneath a television or along a wall.
Corner cabinet: A cabinet shaped to fit into the corner of a room, usually with a triangular or angled footprint. It makes use of space that is otherwise hard to furnish.
Wall mounted cabinet: A cabinet fixed directly to the wall with no legs or base. It keeps the floor clear and suits small rooms and hallways.
Display unit or display stand: Usually an open shelving piece without doors, used for objects that do not need enclosed protection. Our display stands and units UK range includes many open designs of this kind.
Glazed sideboard: A sideboard with glass doors, combining low storage with display. Pieces from our modern glass sideboards UK sale collection work this way and often coordinate with taller cabinets.
Toughened glass: Also called tempered glass. It is heat treated to make it considerably stronger than ordinary glass, and if it breaks, it shatters into small, blunt pieces rather than sharp shards. It is the standard choice for doors and shelves.
Safety glass: A general term for glass designed to reduce injury if broken. Toughened glass is the most common type found in furniture.
Clear glass: Standard transparent glass. It often has a faint green tint visible on its edges.
Low iron glass: Glass with reduced iron content, which removes most of the green tint and looks noticeably clearer. It suits pale porcelain and crystal.
Smoked glass: Glass with a grey or bronze tint. It gives a softer, moodier look and partly obscures the contents.
Frosted or satin glass: Glass with a translucent finish that diffuses light and hides contents in soft focus.
Bevelled edge: An angled edge ground around the border of a glass panel. It catches the light and gives a more traditional, decorative look.
Polished edge: A smooth, flat finished edge on glass shelves and doors, safer to handle and cleaner in appearance.
Glass on four sides: Describes a cabinet glazed at the front, back and both sides, so light passes through and objects can be seen from every angle.
Mirrored back: A mirror panel fitted to the inside back of a cabinet. It reflects light and shows the reverse of displayed objects.
Carcass: The main body or frame of the cabinet, to which doors, shelves and back panel are fitted.
Solid wood: Timber used in its natural form throughout a component, rather than as a thin surface layer.
Veneer: A thin layer of real wood bonded to a stable core board. It provides the look of solid timber with greater stability and less risk of warping.
MDF: Medium density fibreboard. A dense, smooth engineered board widely used for painted and high gloss furniture because it takes finishes evenly.
Particleboard or chipboard: Engineered board made from wood particles bonded together. It is often used inside furniture beneath a veneer or laminate.
Lacquer: A hard, protective coating applied to timber or board. It can be matt, satin or gloss.
High gloss: A highly reflective lacquered finish. It brightens rooms but shows fingerprints, so it needs gentle, regular cleaning.
Plinth: A solid base on which a cabinet sits, rather than legs. It gives a grounded, built in look.
Cornice: A decorative moulding at the top of a traditional cabinet.
Flat pack: Furniture supplied in parts for assembly at home.
Ready assembled: Furniture delivered fully built, needing at most the fitting of shelves or feet.
Adjustable shelves: Shelves that can be moved to different heights, usually by repositioning small supports in a row of holes.
Shelf pins or shelf pegs: Small metal or plastic supports that slot into holes in the cabinet sides and hold shelves in place.
Shelf span: The unsupported width of a shelf between its supports. A longer span carries less weight. Our guide to glass shelf load limits in UK cabinets explains how span and thickness work together.
Base shelf: The lowest shelf, often solid timber or board, used for heavier objects.
Concealed hinge: A hinge hidden inside the cabinet when the door is closed, often adjustable so doors can be realigned.
Pivot hinge: A hinge fitted at the top and bottom of a door, common on frameless glass doors.
Soft close: A mechanism that slows a door or drawer as it closes, preventing slamming.
Push to open: A mechanism that opens a door with a gentle press, removing the need for a handle.
Magnetic catch: A small magnet that holds a door closed.
Lock and key: A simple door lock, useful for valuable collections or homes with young children.
Escutcheon: A decorative plate around a keyhole.
Adjustable feet or levellers: Feet that can be screwed up or down to keep a cabinet level on uneven floors.
Anti tip fixing: A bracket or strap that secures a tall cabinet to the wall to prevent it tipping forward.
Integrated lighting: Lighting built into the cabinet during manufacture, rather than added afterwards.
LED: Light emitting diode. A cool running, energy efficient light source now standard in cabinet lighting.
Downlight: A light at the top of a cabinet or compartment that shines downwards through the shelves.
Puck light: A small, round, surface mounted light, named for its resemblance to an ice hockey puck.
Strip light: A flexible or rigid strip of LEDs, often fitted along the inside edge of a cabinet.
Warm white and cool white: Descriptions of light colour. Warm white is yellowish and cosy, cool white is crisper and bluer.
Driver: A small unit that converts mains power to the low voltage most LED lights need.
Touch switch or sensor switch: A switch that turns the lights on with a touch or a wave of the hand, sometimes with dimming.
UV: Ultraviolet light, present in daylight, which can contribute to fading in some materials.
A few neighbouring furniture terms often appear in the same listings and can cause confusion. Bookcases are usually open shelving for books, while a glazed bookcase is close to a display cabinet in function. Sideboards are low storage pieces for dining rooms, and a glazed sideboard bridges the two. If you are puzzled by the names of small tables you might place beside a cabinet, our explainer on UK furniture terms for side, end and lamp tables clears up the differences.
When reading a product description, look for the terms that matter most for your needs. If you have a heavy collection, check shelf type, shelf span and base shelf. If you have young children, look for toughened glass, a lock and an anti tip fixing. If you want atmosphere in the evening, check for integrated LED lighting and the light colour. And if your floor is uneven, adjustable feet will save frustration later.
Knowing the language makes it easier to compare designs, ask the right questions and choose a cabinet with confidence. You can explore cabinets with every combination of these features at Furniture in Fashion.
In everyday use there is little difference. Vitrine is a traditional term for a glass fronted display cabinet, and today it often describes a cabinet glazed on several sides.
Toughened glass is a type of safety glass. It is heat treated for strength and breaks into small, blunt pieces, which is why it is widely used in furniture.
It describes a cabinet with glass at the front, back and both sides, allowing light to pass through and objects to be seen from every direction.
The carcass is the main body of a cabinet, made up of the top, base, sides and back, to which doors and shelves are fitted.
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