Shingle, in America a wooden tile, and also familiarly used for a modest signboard, placed over an office, since, in the West especially, a real shingle has often to answer the purpose. Having said all that, I should note that the connection between "hang out a shingle" and lawyers remains particularly strong.
Open an office, especially a professional practice, as in Bill's renting that office and hanging out his shingle next month. This American colloquialism dates from the first half of the 1800s, when at first lawyers, and later also doctors and business concerns, used shingles for signboards.
All together, these occurrences referring to writing on shingles as signage on a bale of cotton (1829), a "lawer's" place-of-business advertisement (1830), and a handy 'slate' for making notes (1832, 1835) tempt the conclusion that shingles were a cheap and ready substitute for more conventional writing surfaces in the early 1800s.
noun (2) Definition of shingle (Entry 3 of 3) 1 : coarse rounded detritus or alluvial material especially on the seashore that differs from ordinary gravel only in the larger size of the stones.
you start your own businessphrase [v and n inflect] If you hang out your shingle or hang out a shingle, you start your own business.
Open an office, especially a professional practice, as in Bill's renting that office and hanging out his shingle next month. This American colloquialism dates from the first half of the 1800s, when at first lawyers, and later also doctors and business concerns, used shingles for signboards.
shingle Add to list Share. A shingle is a thin piece of wood used in making a roof or a signboard outside an office, especially a doctor's or lawyer's. If you're opening a business, hang your shingle outside so people can find you.