Descriptionary

Corinthian order the most ornate of the five clas­sical orders, characterized by a voluted, bell-shaped capital with acanthus leaf carvings, and an intricately decorated entablature.

cornerstone an inscribed stone situated near the base of any corner in a building, sometimes ceremoni­ously laid and hollowed out to store historical docu­ments or objects.

cornice a molded projection that crowns a building or wall. Also, any ornamental molding around the walls just below a ceiling.

cosmati cut-stone mosaic inlay forming geometric patterns.

course one row of bricks or stones in a wall.

cove ceiling a ceiling that curves down to meet the walls.

crocket an ornament, usually in the form of a leaf, found along the sloping or vertical edges of gothically styled spires, pinnacles, and gables.

cupola a small dome or domelike structure on a roof.

curtail the spiraling or scroll-like termination at the end of a stair railing.

dais a raised platform for speakers.

day one division in a window.

deadlight any window not designed to open.

decastyle of a portico, having 10 columns or rows of 10 columns.

dentil any of the small, square blocks projecting like teeth beneath an entablature.

architecture TERMS 25

diamond work masonry laid out to form the shape of diamonds in a wall or pavement.

distyle having two columns.

Doric order in classical architecture, the least adorned of the orders, characterized by a heavy, fluted column and a simple capital.

dormer a structure or gable projecting out from a sloping roof and containing a window.

drip the protective molding over the top of a win­dow or door to discharge rainwater.

Dutch door a split door consisting of separate bottom-opening and top-opening segments.

eaves the portion of a lower roof projecting beyond the wall.

embedded column a column that is partially within the face of a wall. Also known as an engaged column.

English bond a bricklaying method characterized by alternating courses of headers (heads of the bricks facing out) and stretchers (laid out horizontally in the direction of the wall).

entablature in a classical order, the upper section resting on the capital, consisting of the architrave, the frieze, and the cornice.

facade the exterior face of a building.

fanlight a semicircular window with radiating sash bars, usually placed over a door.

fascia a flat trim board around the eaves or gables of roofs.

fenestra a small window.

fenestration the design and arrangement of win­dows in a building.

finial an ornament at the top of a spire or pin­nacle.

Flemish bond brickwork in which every other brick laid is a header.

floriated decorated with floral carvings or patterns.

florid highly ornate, heavily embellished.

fluting grooves or channels, as in the shaft of a column.

flying buttress a bar of masonry rising from a pier or arch and abutting against a roof or vault to receive thrust.

French door a door with glass panes running nearly its full length and usually hung in pairs. Also known as a casement door.

French roof a mansard roof.

fresco a painting on plaster.

fret a banded ornament consisting of geometrical patterns.

frieze the middle horizontal member of an entab­lature, often decorated with carvings of leaves or human and animal figures.

gable the triangular wall portion at either end of a pitched roof.

gableboard see bargeboard.

gable roof a roof having gables.

gambrel roof a roof pitched twice on each side, with the lowest pitch being the steepest.

gargoyle a grotesque sculpture projecting from a roof gutter and acting as a spout for wastewater or rainwater.

gingerbread highly decorative woodwork of ginger­bread-style houses of the 19th century.

grotesque sculptured ornamentation representing animal or human forms in bizarre and fanciful ways.

header a brick or stone laid so that its head or short side faces out.

hecatonstylon a building with 100 columns.

herringbone pattern masonry work laid in a zig­zagging fashion.

hexastyle having six columns.

hip the angle formed at the junction of two sloping roofs.

hip roof a roof having four sloping sides instead of two.

historiated ornamented with a representation of a narrative of some historic event, usually in the form of human or animal figures.

horseshoe arch a rounded arch in the distinct shape of a horseshoe. Also known as a Moorish arch.

intercolumniation the system of spacing between a colonnade for varying effects. Roman styles of inter- columniation include pycnostyle—1% diameters; sys- tyle—2 diameters; eustyle—2% diameters; diastyle—3 diameters; araeostyle—4 diameters.