Glossary
- aedicule: The frame of an opening with two columns, piers, or pilasters supporting a gable, lintel, or entablature and pediment.
- archivolt: The continuous molding following the contour (or Intrados) of an arch.
- arcuated: Arched construction, as opposed to trabeated, or post and lintel, construction.
- ashlar: Cut masonry in which the stones, while they may be rough faced, have even sides and square edges. Random ashlar exhibits discontinuous vertical and horizontal joints; horizontal ashlar exhibits discontinuous vertical and continuous horizontal joints.
- astylar: A facade without the articulation of columns, piers, or pilasters.
- bay: The basic spatial unit of plan, elevation, or structural system marked by fenestration, supports, vaulting, etc.
- belt course: A horizontal molding or run of decoration stretching across a facade.
- belvedere: A small lookout tower above a roof.
- box girder: In iron or steel frame construction, a hollow horizontal member com-posed of two vertical and two horizontal plates forming in cross section an open quadrangle.
- cantilever: A horizontal structural member visually supported only at one end.
- casement: A side-hinged window that swings open like a door.
- chancel: That part of a church in which the choir and main altar are located.
- coping: The topmost course in a wall, designed to shed water.
- cornice: The projecting decorative molding along the top of a wall or building.
- en loge: A French term meaning, literally, “in a box.” Students at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts sketched preliminary competitive designs in isolated alcoves.
- esquisse: French for “sketch,” or preliminary design.
- extrados: The curving outer line of an arch. See Intrados.
- frieze: A horizontal band of decoration along the top of a wall.
- half-timber: Frame construction in which the wooden members are exposed externally and infilled with stucco or masonry, or a decorative pattern suggesting such construction.
- hip roof: A roof of four, usually gentle, slopes.
- inglenook: A recess containing a bench or benches before a fireplace.intrados: The inner curve or underside of an arch. See Extrados.
- jamb: The side of a window, doorway, or other opening.
- lintel: A horizontal member bridging an opening.
- lucarne: A dormer the face of which is often an extension of the plane of the facade below.
- mansard: A high, visible roof composed of planes of two different slopes.
- mullion: A vertical member dividing a window into panes. See Transom.
- nave: The principal congregational space in a church.
- oriel: A bay window; an angular or curved projection filled with fenestration.
- Palladian window: A classical composition divided into three parts: a wide arched opening in the center flanked by lower, narrower trabeated openings.
- parapet: A low wall marking the edge of a roof, terrace, etc.
- pargetting: Exterior ornamental stuccowork.
- parti: A French term for the basic scheme of an architectural design.
- pavillon: French for “pavilion,” a projecting subdivision of a building, usually square in plan and often capped by a mansard roof, commonly found at the center or sides of an elevation.
- piazza: In the United States, a veranda or porch.
- pier: A vertical support that is square in plan.
- porte cochere: A porch covering a vehicular entrance.
- salient: A central, projecting subdivision of a wall.
- salle des pas perdus: French, literally “hall of lost steps.” The large circulatory space found in the center of some plans arranged according to the principles of the Ecole des Beaux-Arts.
- soffit: The underside of an architectural element such as an eave or an arch.
- spandrel: In frame construction, the horizontal member visible on the facade.
- trabeated: Post and lintel construction, as opposed to arcuated.
- transept: The transverse arm of a cross-shaped church.
- transom: The horizontal member dividing a window into panes. See Mullion.
- transverse arch: An arch dividing a vault into bays.
- tympanum: The area between the lintel of a doorway and the arch above it.
- voussoir: The wedge-shaped stone used in the construction of an arch.
- water table: The flared base of a wall.
Source Citation
O’Gorman, James F. Three American Architects: Richardson, Sullivan, Wright, 1865-1915. Chicago, Illinois: University of Chicago Press. 1991.