Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • Roman architect and writer. His De Architectura is the only surviving text on ancient architectural theory.

Etymologies

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Examples

  • I have procured for you a copy of Polybius, the best edition; but the best edition of Vitruvius, which is with the commentaries of Ticinus, is not to be got here.

    The Writings of Thomas Jefferson Library Edition - Vol. 6 (of 20) Thomas Jefferson 1784

  • I have procured for you a copy of Polybius, the best edition; but the best edition of Vitruvius which is with the commentaries of Ficinus, is not to be got here.

    Memoir, Correspondence, And Miscellanies, From The Papers Of Thomas Jefferson, Volume 2 Thomas Jefferson 1784

  • Not only that, but he did sectionals of the Palace as it must have been, comparison drawings of the ruins all around him and what they must have looked like originally, and a complete floor-plan of the Palace as it was in his own time and as it likely was when it was brand-new (based, in part, on his own studies in Rome, where he read all the ancient architectural writers such as Vitruvius and Pliny the Younger).

    Archive 2008-04-01 Heather McDougal 2008

  • Not only that, but he did sectionals of the Palace as it must have been, comparison drawings of the ruins all around him and what they must have looked like originally, and a complete floor-plan of the Palace as it was in his own time and as it likely was when it was brand-new (based, in part, on his own studies in Rome, where he read all the ancient architectural writers such as Vitruvius and Pliny the Younger).

    Inside, Outside, Upside Down (And Inside Out) Heather McDougal 2008

  • A mountain, by which it is commanded, and, if I may so speak, surrounded, shelters it from the south and west winds; in a word, the situation is such as Vitruvius particularly recommends as the most healthy; tho theatre is also constructed in such a manner as to render it very sonorous; a man, placed in the concavity of the mountain, easily makes himself heard by persons at the opposite extremity, and the sound instead of diminishing seems to increase.

    A History of the campaigns of the British forces in Spain and Portugal : undertaken to relieve those countries from the French usurpation : comprehending memoirs of the operations of this interesting war : characteristic reports of the Spanish and Portuguese troops, and illustrative anecdotes of distinguished military conduct in individuals, whatever their rank in the Army 1812

  • Jessica is quoting Marcus Vitruvius Pollio from 1C, BC who said, architecture aspires to “firmitas, utilitas, venustas.”

    Treasures, not trash. 2009

  • On the one hand, this gave the profession enough self-doubt to allow some of its brighter sons to start noodling around with the past, and to discover it was a fine thing; on the other hand, it gave us Frank Gehry, that dealer in flashy junk heaps, a sort of superficial Dinocretes writ larger than Vitruvius could have ever imagined.

    The Dangers of Architectural Positivism 2009

  • In my own mind, the best architects always have a bit of both the practical, conservative Vitruvius and the extravagant dreamer Dinocrates.

    The Dangers of Architectural Positivism 2009

  • The Augustan architect Marcus Vitruvius Pollio is regarded today more as a figurehead father of architecture than someone whose views on houses belong in the pages of Dwell or Wallpaper, but there is something terribly obvious about his three general precepts in De Architectura that have held true over two thousand years: that an architect-designed building must have integrity of structure, a responsibility to function, and the added delight of beauty.

    Bird Cloud Annie Proulx 2011

  • The Augustan architect Marcus Vitruvius Pollio is regarded today more as a figurehead father of architecture than someone whose views on houses belong in the pages of Dwell or Wallpaper, but there is something terribly obvious about his three general precepts in De Architectura that have held true over two thousand years: that an architect-designed building must have integrity of structure, a responsibility to function, and the added delight of beauty.

    Bird Cloud Annie Proulx 2011

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