Clapboard, in modern American usage, is a word for long, thin boards used to cover walls and (formerly) roofs of buildings.
[3][4] An older meaning of "clapboard" is small split pieces of oak imported from Germany for use as barrel staves, and the name is a partial translation (from klappen, "to fit") of Middle Dutch klapholt and related to German Klappholz.
In some areas, clapboards were traditionally left as raw wood, relying upon good air circulation and the use of 'semi-hardwoods' to keep the boards from rotting.
In modern clapboard these colors remain popular, but with a hugely wider variety due to chemical pigments and stains.
Newer, cheaper designs often imitate the form of clapboard construction as siding made of vinyl (uPVC), aluminum, fiber cement, or other man-made materials.