Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A building, especially one of imposing appearance or size.
- noun An elaborate conceptual structure.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A building; a structure; an architectural fabric: applied chiefly to large or fine buildings, public or private.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun A building; a structure; an architectural fabric; -- chiefly applied to elegant houses, and other large buildings.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A
building ; astructure ; anarchitectural fabric , especially animposing one; a large or fine building,public or private. - noun An abstract structure; a school of thought.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a structure that has a roof and walls and stands more or less permanently in one place
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin aedificium, from aedificāre, to build : aedis, a building + -ficāre, -fy.]
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Middle English edifice, from Old French edifice, reborrowed from Latin aedificium ("building"), derived from aedificāre ("to build, establish") (whence also edify).
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Examples
Sorry, no example sentences found.
koldewyse commented on the word edifice
I was reminded of this word through my Spanish studies: "edificio" is much more commonly used than its English counterpart, as we English-speakers are more prone to using "building."
December 16, 2007