Architectural terms
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Arcade a passage or walkway covered over by a succession of arches or vaults supported by columns.
Baguette, a little round moulding less than an astragal, sometimes carved, and enriched with foliages, pearls, ribbands, laurels, etc. When enriched with ornaments, it was also called chapelet. [2]
Bandelet, any little band or flat moulding, which crowns a Doric architrave. It is also called a tenia. [2]
Bahut, a dwarf-wall of plain masonry, carrying the roof of a cathedral or church and masked or hidden behind the balustrade.
Beak, a little fillet left on the edge of a larmier, which forms a canal, and makes a kind of pendant. [2] See also: chin-beak.
Baluster, a small moulded shaft, square or circular, in stone or wood, sometimes metal, supporting the coping of a parapet or the handrail of a staircase.
Bossage, an uncut stone that is laid in place in a building, projecting outward from the building, to later be carved into mouldings, capitals, arms, etc. Bossages are also rustic work, consisting of stones which seem to advance beyond the surface of the building, by reason of indentures, or channels left in the joinings; used chiefly in the corners of buildings, and called rustic quoins. The cavity or indenture may be round, square, cham frained, bevelled, diamond-shaped, or enclosed with a cavetto or listel. [2]
Boutant, a type of support. An arc-boutant, or flying buttress, serves to sustain a vault, and is self-sustained by some strong wall or massive work. A pillar boutant is a large chain or jamb of stone, made to support a wall, terrace, or vault. The word is French, and comes from the verb bouter, "to butt" or "abut". [2]
Bulwark, a barricade of beams and soil used in 15th and 16th century fortifications designed to mount artillery. On board ships the term is used of the woodwork running round the ship above the level of the deck. Figuratively it means anything serving as a defense.
Cable molding, is the term given to a convex molding carved in imitation of a rope or cord, and used to decorate the moldings of the Romanesque style in England, France and Spain. The word cabling by itself indicates a convex circular molding sunk in the concave fluting of a classic column, and rising about one-third of the height of the shaft.
Cabled fluting, flutes filled up with pieces in the form of cables. [2]
Cancellus, Cancelli in plural, in architecture, is the term given to barriers which correspond to the modern balustrade or railing, especially the~ screen dividing the body of a church from the part occupied by the ministers; hence chancel. By the Romans cancelli were similarly employed to divide off portions of the courts of law.
Cauliculus, or caulicole, in architecture, is the stalks (eight in number) with two leaves from which rise the helices or spiral scrolls of the Corinthian capital to support the abacus.
Cavetto, in architecture, is the term given to a hollow concave molding sometimes employed in the place of the cymatium of a cornice, as in. that of the Done order of the theatre of Marcellus. It forms the crowning feature of the Egyptian temples, and took the place of the cymatium in many of the Etruscan temples.
Chalcidicum, in Roman architecture, is the vestibule or portico of a public building opening on to the forum; as in the basilica of Eumactria at Pompeii, and the basilica of Constantine at Rome, where it was placed at one end.
Chin-beak, a moulding exactly like a quarter-round, except that its situation is inverted. There are few examples of this in ancient buildings, but is common in more recent times. [2]
Chresmographion, is an architectural term sometimes given to the chamber between the pronaos and the cella in Greek temples where oracles were delivered.
Cincture, a ring, list, or fillet at the top and bottom of a column, which divides the shaft from the capital and base.[2]
Cinque cento, in architecture, is the style which became prevalent in Italy in the century following 1500, now usually called 16th-century work. It was the result of the revival of classic architecture known as Renaissance, but the change had commenced already a century earlier, in the works of Ghiberti and Donatello in sculpture, and of Brunelleschi and Alberti in architecture.
Cippus, in architecture, is a low pedestal, either round or rectangular, set up by the Romans for various purposes such as military or milestones, boundary posts. The inscriptions on some in the British Museum show that they were occasionally funeral memorials.
Cleithral, is an architectural term applied to a covered Greek temple, in contradistinction to hypaethral, which designates one that is uncovered; the roof of a cleithral temple completely covers
Collarino, also colarin or colarino, the little frieze of the captial of the Tuscan and Doric column; placed between the astragal, and the annulets. It was called by Vitruvius, hypotrachelium.
Cornice, The upper section of an entablature; aprojecting shelf along the top of a wall often supported by brackets.
Compluvium, in architecture, is the Latin term for the open space left in the roof of the atrium of a Roman house for lighting it and the rooms round.
Cross springer, in architecture, is the block from which the diagonal ribs of a vault spring or start: the top of the springer is known as the skewback.
Crypto-porticus, is an architectural term for a concealed or covered passage, generally underground, though lighted and ventilated from the open air. One of the best-known examples is the crypto-porticus under the palaces of the Caesars in Rome. In Hadrians villa in Rome they formed the principal private intercommunication between the several buildings.
Cyma, in architecture, is a molding of double curvature, concave at one end, convex at the other. When the concave part is uppermost, it is called a cyma recta; but if the convex portion is at the top, it is called a cyma reverse, When the crowning molding of an entablature is of the cyma form, it is called a cymatium.
Cyrto-style, in architecture, is a circular projecting portico with columns; like those of the transept entrances of St Paul's cathedral and the western entrance of St Mary-le-Strand, London.
Diastyle, in architecture, is a term used to designate an intercolumniation of three or four diameters.
Diaulos, in architecture, is the peristyle round the great court of the palaestra, described by Vitruvius, which measured two stadia (1,200 ft.) in length; on the south side this peristyle had two rows of columns, so that in stormy weather the rain might not be driven into the inner part. The word was also used in ancient Greece for a footrace of twice the usual length.
Diazomata, in architecture, is the landing places and passages which were carried round the semi-circle and separated the upper and lower tiers in a Greek theatre.
Dikka, is a term in Islamic architecture for the tribune raised upon columns, from which the Koran is recited and the prayers intoned by the Imam of the mosque.
Dipteral, is an architectural term applied to those temples which have a double range of columns in the peristyle, as in the temple of Diana at Ephesus.
Distyle, is an architectural term given to a portico which has two columns between antae, known as distyle-in-antis.
Dodecastyle, is an architectural term given to a temple where the portico has twelve columns in front, as in the portico added to the temple of Demeter at Eleusis, designed by Philo, the architect of the arsenal at the Peiraeus.
Doric order one of the three orders or organizational systems of Ancient Greek or classical architecture which stood on the flat pavement of a temple without a base; their vertical shafts fluted with pararell concave grooves; topped by a smooth capital that flared from the column to meet a square abacus at the intersection with the horizantal beam that they carried.
Dosseret, or impost block, in architecture, is the cubical block of stone above the capitals in a Byzantine church, used to carry the arches and vault, the springing of which had a superficial area greatly in excess of the column which carried them.
Dromos, in architecture, is the name of the entrance passage leading down to the beehive tombs in Greece, open to the air and enclosed between stone walls.
Ephebeum, in architecture, is a large hall in the ancient Palaestra furnished with seats, the length of which should be a third larger than the width. It served for the exercises of youths of from sixteen to eighteen years of age.
Epinaos, in architecture, is the open vestibule behind the nave. The term is not found in any classic author, but is a modern coinage, originating in Germany, to differentiate the feature from opisthodomus, which in the Parthenon was an enclosed chamber.
Estrade, is a French architectural term for a raised platform. In the Levant the estrade of a divan is called Sopha (Blondel), from which comes our sofa.
Eustyle, is the architectural term for the intercolumniation defined by Vitruvius as being of the best proportion, i.e. two and a half diameters.
Feretory, in architecture, is the enclosure or chapel within which the fereter shrine, or tomb (as in Henry VII.'s chapel), was placed.
Foot-stall, is a word supposed to be a literal translation of pidestal, or pedestal, the lower part of a pier in architecture.
Formeret, is a French architectural term for the wall-rib carrying the web or filling-in of a vault.
Gablets, in architecture, are triangular terminations to buttresses, much in use in the Early English and Decorated periods, after which the buttresses generally terminated in pinnacles. The Early English gablets are generally plain, and very sharp in pitch. In the Decorated period they are often enriched with panelling and crockets. They are sometimes finished with small crosses, but of tener with finials.
Garretting, properly Galletting, is a term in architecture for the process in which the gallets or small splinters of stone are inserted in the joints of coarse masonry to protect the mortar joints; they are stuck in while the mortar is wet.
Godroon or Gadroon, in architecture, is an ornamental band with the appearance of beading or reeding, especially frequent in silverwork and molding. It comes from the latin word Guttus, meaning flask. It is said to be derived from raised work on linen, applied in France to varieties of the, bead and reel, in which the bead is often carved with ornament. In England the term is constantly used by auctioneers to describe the raised convex decorations under the bowl of stone or terracotta vases. The godroons radiate from the vertical support of the vase and rise half-way up the bowl.
Keel-molding, in architecture, is a round on which there is a small fillet, somewhat like the keel of a ship. It is common in the Early English and Decorated styles.
Lacunar, is the Latin name in architecture for a paneled or coffered ceiling or soffit. The word is derived from lacuna, a cavity or hollow, a blank, hiatus or gap. The panels or coffers of a ceiling are by Vitruvius called lacunaria.
Maksoora, is the term in Islamic architecture given to the sanctuary or praying-chamber in a mosque, which was sometimes enclosed with a screen of lattice-work; the word is occasionally used for a similar enclosure round a tomb.
Modillion, in architecture, is the enriched block or horizontal bracket generally found tinder the cornice and above the bedmold of the Corinthian entablature. It is probably so called because of its arrangement in regulated distances.
Monotriglyph, in architecture, is the interval of the intercolumniation of the Boric column, which is observed by the intervention of one triglyph only between the triglyphs which come over the axes of the columns. This is the usual arrangement, but in the Propylaea at Athens there are two triglyphs over the central intercolumniation, in order to give increased width to the roadway, up which chariots and beasts of sacrifice ascended.
Mutule, in architecture, is the rectangular block under the soffit of the cornice of the Greek Doric temple, which is studded with guttae. It is supposed to represent the piece of timber through which the wooden pegs were driven in order to hold the rafter in position, and it follows the rake of the roof. In the Roman Done order the mutule was horizontal, with sometimes a crowning fillet, so that it virtually fulfilled the purpose of the modillion in the Corinthian cornice.
Oillets, is an architectural term given to the arrow slits in the walls of medieval fortifications, but more strictly applied to the round hole or circle with which the openings terminate. The same term is applied to the small circles inserted in the tracery-head of the windows of the Decorated and Perpendicular periods, sometimes varied with trefoils and quatrefoils.
Orthostatae, is the term in Greek architecture given to the lowest course of masonry of the external walls of the naos or cella, consisting of vertical slabs of stone or marble equal in height to two or three of the horizontal courses which constitute the inner part of the wall.
Orthostyle, in architecture, is a range of columns placed in a straight row, as for instance those of the portico or flanks of a classic temple.
Parclose, is an architectural term for a screen or railing used to enclose a chantry, tomb or chapel, in a church, and for the space thus enclosed.
Peripteral, is the term applied to a temple or other structure where the columns of the front portico are returned along its sides as wings at the distance of one or two intercolumniations from the walls of the naos or cella. Almost all the Greek temples were peripteral, whether Doric, Ionic, or Corinthian.
Planceer or Planchier, in architecture, is a term sometimes used in the same sense as a soffit, but more correctly applied to the soffit of the corona in a cornice.
Poppy heads, in architecture, is a term given to the finials or other ornaments which terminate the tops of bench ends, either to pews or stalls. They are sometimes small human heads, sometimes richly carved images, knots of foliages or finials, and sometimes fleurs-de-lis simply cut out of the thickness of the bench end and chamfered. The term is probably derived from the French poupee, doll, puppet, used also in this sense, or from the flower, from a resemblance in shape.
Portico, A series columns or arches in front of a building, generally as a covered walkway.
Prick post, is an old architectural name given sometimes to the queen posts of a roof, and sometimes to the filling in quarters in framing.
Pseudo-peripteral, in architecture, is a temple in which the columns surrounding the naos have had walls built between them, so that they become engaged columns, as in the great temple at Agrigentum. In Roman temples, in order to increase the size of the celia, the columns on either side and at the rear became engaged columns, the portico only having isolated columns.
Pycnostyle, is the architectural term given by Titruvius to the intercolumniation of the columns of a temple, when this was equal to 11/2 diameters.
Rear vault, in architecture, is the vault of the internal hood of a doorway or window to which a splay has been given on the reveal; sometimes the vaulting surface is terminated by a small rib known as the scoinson rib, and a further development is given by angle shafts carrying this rib, known as scoinson shafts.
Sommer or Summer, in architecture, is a girder or main beam of a floor; if supported on two storey posts and open below, it is called a bress or breast-summer.
Systyle, in architecture, is a term meaning having columns rather thickly setan intercolumniation to which two diameters are assigned.
References
- This article incorporates content from the 1728 Cyclopaedia, a publication in the public domain.
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