ogive

American  

[oh-jahyv, oh-jahyv] / ˈoʊ dʒaɪv, oʊˈdʒaɪv /

noun

1. Architecture.

   1. a diagonal vaulting rib.

   2. a pointed arch.

2. Statistics. the distribution curve of a frequency distribution.

3. Rocketry. the curved nose of a missile or rocket.

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ogive British  

/ ˈəʊdʒaɪv, əʊˈdʒaɪv /

noun

1. a diagonal rib or groin of a Gothic vault

2. another name for lancet arch

3. statistics a graph the ordinates of which represent cumulative frequencies of the values indicated by the corresponding abscissas

4. the conical head of a missile or rocket that protects the payload during its passage through the atmosphere

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Other Word Forms

• ogival adjective

Etymology

Origin of ogive

1605–15; < French, Middle French ogive, augive < Spanish aljibe < Spanish Arabic al-jibb the well

Example Sentences

Significantly, the cathedral is a prominent showcase of the Plantagenet Gothic style, incorporating a ceiling of rounded ogive vaults and walls with blind arcades beneath bay windows.

From Washington Post • Nov. 24, 2021

The relentless ogive of growth fascinated Jacques Monod, the French biologist.

From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee

What ogive gates from gold of Ophir wrought, What walls of Parian, whiter than a rose, What towers of crystal, for the eyes of thought, Hast builded on far Islands of Repose?

From Kentucky Poems by Cawein, Madison J.

By a dark footpath, soft and damp, under the ogive of the branches, we follow this crystal-paved cloister of green shadow.

From Light by Wray, Fitzwater

Acanthus, thistles, ivy, and oak-leaves wind around their caps; between each mitred ogive is a cut-out rose; this gallery is the place where the prisoners take the air.

From Over Strand and Field by Flaubert, Gustave