Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. The lowermost part of an entablature in classical architecture that rests directly on top of a column. Also called epistyle.
- n. The molding around a door or window.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. In architecture: The lower division of an entablature; that member which rests immediately on the column and supports those portions of the structure which are above it. See cut under entablature.
- n. The ornamental molding running round the extrados of an arch. Also called archivolt.
- n. Sometimes, less properly, the molded enrichments on the faces of the jambs and lintel of a door, window, or other opening. Also called antepagment.
- n. In fortification, the master-beam, or chief supporter, in any part of a subterranean fortification.
Wiktionary
- n. The lowest part of an entablature; rests on the capitals of the columns
- n. The mouldings (or other elements) framing a door, window or other rectangular opening
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. The lower division of an entablature, or that part which rests immediately on the column, esp. in classical architecture. See column.
- n. The group of moldings, or other architectural member, above and on both sides of a door or other opening, especially if square in form.
WordNet 3.0
- n. the molding around a door or window
- n. the lowest part of an entablature; rests immediately on the capitals of the columns
Etymologies
- French, from Old French, from Old Italian : archi-, archi- + trave, beam (from Latin trabs, trab-; see treb- in Indo-European roots).
Examples
“The scion of a family of surveyors, architects and property developers, he learnt the meaning of the word architrave almost from the moment he could talk.”
“Sculptured on the architrave was the Boat of the Moon, containing”
“And for the frieze and architrave, which is 4 br. and 6 in. long, 2 br. wide and 6 in. thick, 29 hundredweight., duc.”
“These layers contained architectural fragments, some of them used as spolia (reused building elements such as architrave - frieze blocks, cornices, and columns).”
“Oliver Shortsleeves became sadly twisted up after hearing those immediately before him spell in succession "schooner, tetrarch, pibroch and anarchy" and tried to spell "architrave" with so many letters that he would have needed no more to have spelled it twice over.”
“It is very lofty, and on each side is a pilaster; beneath the cornice are two long cut stones, which advance like a kind of architrave, pierced by a square hole of above twelve inches, supposed to have been intended to support a bronze door.”
“Above the architrave is a projecting balcony which runs all round the gateway with a railing carried by dragons’ heads.”
“Can you read?" he asked her; "up there on the architrave is the name of”
“Can you read?" he asked her; "up there on the architrave is the name of Rameses, with all his titles.”
“Essentially, the orders determine the shape, proportion and decoration of the basic architectural elements: the vertical, supporting column (with its base, shaft and capital) and the horizontal, supported entablature (divided into three registers, from bottom to top: the architrave, frieze and cornice).”
The Guardian: Renaissance architecture: how to identify the Roman orders
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘architrave’.
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art & art historical
chiaroscuro, architrave, column, capital, corinthian, dorice, entablature, frieze, ionic, sketch, abecedarian, abstraction and 124 more...
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Interesting words
A list of words that are odd or words that I have looked up.
concupiscence, brize, scree, scoria, forestaff, spanaemia, valetudinarianism, distasture, pyrethrum, laudanum, gentian, bicameral and 1051 more...
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Ar!
ar, Ar, argon, are, area, arf, arc, ark, aardwolf, aardvark, aardcucumber, yardarm and 252 more...
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Logolepsy
"Luciferous Logolepsy is a collection of over 9,000 obscure English words. Though the definition of an 'English' word might seem to be straightforward, it is not. There exist so many adopted, deriv...
Anschauung, Areopagus, Argus, Briarean, Dei gratia, Dei judicium, Deo volente, Duecento, Foehn, Geflugelte Worte, Gegenschein, Hakenkreuz and 9230 more...
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Columniation
A list of terms pertaining to columns employed in architecture.
hypostyle, peristyle, columniation, Doric, Ionic, Corinthian, base, shaft, capital, entablature, architrave, frieze and 48 more...
chained_bear "Jack had introduced the electricity himself. He hadn't messed around. He ran the wires like streamers across the ceiling, tacked them on to wooden architraves, hung them from a picture rail and looped them around the curtain rods."
—Peter Carey, Illywhacker, 34 Apr 13, 2009