Adjacent Words

Corbel definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

CORBEL, n. [See the preceding words.]
1. In architecture, the representation of a basket, sometimes set on the heads of caryatides.
2. The vase or tambour of the Corinthian column; so called from its resemblance to a basket.
CORBEL, n.
1. A short piece of timber in a wall, jutting six or eight inches, as occasion requires, in the manner of a shoulderpiece; sometimes placed for strength under the semigirder of a platform. The under part is sometimes cut into the form of a boultin; sometimes of an ogee, or of a face, etc.
2. A niche or hollow left in walls for images, figures or statues.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: (architecture) a triangular bracket of brick or stone (usually of slight extent) [syn: corbel, truss] v
1: furnish with a corbel

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French, from diminutive of corp raven, from Latin corvus — more at raven Date: 15th century an architectural member that projects from within a wall and supports a weight; especially one that is stepped upward and outward from a vertical surface II. transitive verb (-beled or -belled; -beling or -belling) Date: 1843 to furnish with or make into a corbel

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. & v. Archit. --n. 1 a projection of stone, timber, etc., jutting out from a wall to support a weight. 2 a short timber laid longitudinally under a beam to help support it. --v.tr. & intr. (corbelled, corbelling; US corbeled, corbeling) (foll. by out, off) support or project on corbels. Phrases and idioms: corbel-table a projecting course resting on corbels. Etymology: ME f. OF, dimin. of corp: see CORBIE

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Corbel Cor"bel, v. t. To furnish with a corbel or corbels; to support by a corbel; to make in the form of a corbel. To corbel out, to furnish with a corbel of courses, each projecting beyond the one next below it.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Corbel Cor"bel, n. [F. corbeau, for older corbel, dim. of L. corbis basket. (Corbels were often in the form of a basket.) See Corbeil.] (Arch.) A bracket supporting a superincumbent object, or receiving the spring of an arch. Corbels were employed largely in Gothic architecture. Note: A common form of corbel consists of courses of stones or bricks, each projecting slightly beyond the next below it.