barrel vault

American  

noun

Architecture.

1. a vault having the form of a very deep arch.

---

barrel vault British  

noun

1. Also called: wagon vault.   tunnel vault.  architect a vault in the form of a half cylinder

---

Other Word Forms

• barrel-vaulted adjective

Etymology

Origin of barrel vault

First recorded in 1840–50

Example Sentences

There is no grand lobby with barrel vault ceiling; instead, the viewer is greeted by the sloping walls and gentle asymmetries of a rough-hewn cave, our most archaic form of shelter.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 29, 2023

And “the barrel vault over the library distinctly recalls Stourhead,” an 18th-century Palladian house in the English county of Wiltshire, he noted.

From Seattle Times • Jan. 3, 2022

Their proposal: a barrel vault higher than Grand Central Terminal, adorned with a 10-story clock said to be the world’s biggest.

From Slate • Sep. 21, 2018

Inside, the bank’s signature barrel vault sits near the front window, emblazoned with “Farmers & Miners Bank,” the institution’s name when it opened in 1883.

From Washington Times • Apr. 23, 2016

Over 200 feet long, it has a dome-surmounted transept in the middle, and a barrel vault divided into panels.

From Portuguese Architecture by Watson, Walter Crum