edifice

[ ed-uh-fis ]

noun

1. a building, especially one of large size or imposing appearance.
2. any large, complex system or organization.

edifice

/ ˈɛdɪfɪs; ˌɛdɪˈfɪʃəl /

noun

1. a building, esp a large or imposing one
2. a complex or elaborate institution or organization

Derived Forms

• edificial, adjective

Other Words From

• ed·i·fi·cial [ed-, uh, -, fish, -, uh, l], adjective
• uned·i·ficial adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of edifice¹

1350–1400; Middle English < Anglo-French, Middle French < Latin aedificium, equivalent to aedific ( āre ) to build ( edify ) + -ium -ium

Word History and Origins

Origin of edifice¹

C14: from Old French, from Latin aedificium, from aedificāre to build; see edify

Synonym Study

See building.

Example Sentences

It would mean the entire edifice of the American state has become a tool for repressing conservatives.

From Vox

Some of the indoor-size pieces at the venue — notably “Exterior,” a sort of self-contained canyon — are built in the same way as the public edifices.

From Washington Post

For years, residents have pleaded for the city to convert the handsome red-brick edifice and two-acre grounds into the kind of community center many neighborhoods take for granted.

From Washington Post

Such an edifice would be comparable to those found all over Mars, said Hamilton, which means this eruption could allow scientists to watch one grow on Earth in real time.

From Quanta Magazine

They held theirs at the high school football stadium, a hulking edifice that can seat 15,000.

From ProPublica

Eventually I get there, and call “Eddie” from outside the vast edifice.

From The Daily Beast

Even at two stories, the brick edifice seems to tower over the rest of the town.

From The Daily Beast

And this is a very unstable edifice on which to build even a limited verbal machine.

From The Daily Beast

DS: I can remember the moment when I was eleven years old where the religious edifice cracked for me.

From The Daily Beast

A stage was erected next to the edifice and hundreds would gather to watch floggings, crying out “Allahu Akbar!”

From The Daily Beast

It was an antique, half-Gothic, half-Saracenic looking edifice, which they now approached.

From Project Gutenberg

The building in which meat and vegetables are sold, is a fine handsome edifice resembling a temple.

From Project Gutenberg

Enter the sacred edifice slowly, reverentially, and take your seat quietly.

From Project Gutenberg

A rich, tender sunshine is streaming in through the windows, and gilding the stately edifice with the purest light.

From Project Gutenberg

The cathedral is one of lesserPg 273 importance among the great English churches, though on the whole it is an imposing edifice.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• monument
• skyscraper