Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun In ancient architecture, the lower member of the entablature, properly of a Greek order, also known by its Roman name, the architrave: a massive horizontal beam of stone or wood resting immediately upon the abaci of the capitals of a range of columns or pillars. See cut under entablature.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Anc. Arch.) A massive piece of stone or wood laid immediately on the abacus of the capital of a column or pillar; -- now called architrave.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun architecture, historical A massive piece of stone or wood laid immediately on the abacus of the capital of a column or pillar; an architrave.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Latin epistȳlium, from Greek epistūlion : epi-, epi- + stūlos, pillar; see stā- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Latin epistylium, Ancient Greek: compare French épistyle.

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Examples

  • The frieze, where of old would prance an exuberant processional of gods, is, in this case, bare of decoration, but upon the epistyle is written in simple, stern letters the word, "EUSTON."

    The Scotch Express 1899

  • The capital is made up of a circular cushion or _echinus_ adorned with fine grooves called _annulæ_, and a plain square _abacus_ or cap Upon this rests a plain architrave or _epistyle_, with a narrow fillet, the _tænia_, running along its upper edge.

    A Text-Book of the History of Architecture Seventh Edition, revised 1890

  • The frieze, where of old would prance an exuberant processional of gods, is, in this case, bare of decoration, but upon the epistyle is written in simple, stern letters the word "EUSTON."

    Men, Women, and Boats Stephen Crane 1885

  • a fountain crowned by a Bacchic Kantharos, and wrote on its epistyle a brilliant epigram, inviting the faithful to purify themselves bodily and spiritually, before presenting themselves to the apostle within.

    Pagan and Christian Rome Rodolfo Amedeo Lanciani 1888

  • n. - beam resting directly on columns; epistyle; moulding at head and sides of window or doorway.

    xml's Blinklist.com 2008

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