metope

[ met-uh-pee, -ohp ]

noun

, Architecture.

1. any of the square spaces, either decorated or plain, between triglyphs in the Doric frieze.

metope

/ ˈmɛtəpɪ; ˈmɛtəʊp /

noun

1. architect a square space between two triglyphs in a Doric frieze

Word History and Origins

Origin of metope¹

First recorded in 1555–65, metope is from the Greek word metópē

Word History and Origins

Origin of metope¹

C16: via Latin from Greek metopē, from meta between + opē one of the holes for the beam-ends

Example Sentences

A week later, Mr. Michel said, the robot will hew a copy of a second Parthenon marble: a metope, or sculpted panel, of the Centauromachy, a mythic battle between the civilized Lapiths and bestial Centaurs at the wedding feast of Peirithous and Hippodamia.

From New York Times

An art historian on the faculty of Fairfield University in Connecticut, Schwab invested years in drawing some of the badly damaged metope sculptures that originally graced the outer face of the Parthenon, the iconic building that was constructed on the Acropolis in Athens between 447 and 432 B.C.

From Washington Post

In the first half of the 5th century the sacred marriage was represented on an extant metope from a temple at Selinus.

From Project Gutenberg

Mutule, mūt′ūl, n. a kind of square, flat bracket used in the Doric order of architecture, above each triglyph and each metope, having round projections like nail-heads on the lower surface.

From Project Gutenberg

As the tragic poet fills the stage with the legend, so the sculptor fills the metope with the legend.

From Project Gutenberg