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architrave

American  
[ahr-ki-treyv] / ˈɑr kɪˌtreɪv /

noun

Architecture.

  1. the lowermost member of a classical entablature, resting originally upon columns.

  2. a molded or decorated band framing a panel or an opening, especially a rectangular one, as of a door or window.

architrave British  
/ ˈɑːkɪˌtreɪv /

noun

  1. the lowest part of an entablature that bears on the columns

  2. a moulding around a doorway, window opening, etc

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

  • architraval adjective
  • architraved adjective

Etymology

Origin of architrave

1555–65; Middle French < Italian; see archi-, trave 1

Vocabulary lists containing architrave

Art History

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Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Many know the famous exterior inscription on the architrave "Equal Justice Under Law," but at the rear of the building is another powerful carved message: "Justice the Guardian of Liberty."

From Fox News • Sep. 26, 2020

Its central door has a shouldered architrave and iron gates.

From BBC • Nov. 13, 2019

In the largest houses, the stairwells are joiner’s poems of raking architrave, barley twist, corbel and column-newel.

From New York Times • Oct. 15, 2014

“Legalistic Argle-Bargle” should be carved into the architrave of the Supreme Court building.

From Slate • Jun. 27, 2013

Mulch pointed his gaze at the recessed cameras, half hidden in the swirling architrave.

From "Artemis Fowl" by Eoin Colfer

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.