Adjacent Words

Plinth definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

PLINTH, n. [Gr. a brick or tile; L. plinthus.]
In architecture, a flat square member in form of a brick, which serves as the foundation of a column; being the flat square table under the molding of the base and pedestal, at the bottom of the order. Vitruvius gives the name to the abacus or upper part of the Tuscan order, from its resemblance to the plinth.
Plinth of a statue, is a base, flat, round or square.
Plinth of a wall, two or three rows of bricks advanced from the wall in form of a platband; and in general, any flat high molding that serves in a front wall to mark the floors, to sustain the eaves of a wall or the larmier of a chimney.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: an architectural support or base (as for a column or statue) [syn: pedestal, plinth, footstall]

Merriam Webster's

noun Etymology: Latin plinthus, from Greek plinthos Date: 1601 1. a. the lowest member of a base ; subbase b. a block upon which the moldings of an architrave or trim are stopped at the bottom 2. a usually square block serving as a base; broadly any of various bases or lower parts 3. a course of stones forming a continuous foundation or base course

Britannica Concise

Lowest part, or foot, of a pedestal, podium, or architrave (molding around a door). It can also refer to the bottom support of a piece of furniture or the usually projecting stone coursing that forms a platform for a building. Tall stone plinths are often used to add monumentality to temple settings and mausoleums (see Taj Mahal).

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. 1 the lower square slab at the base of a column. 2 a base supporting a vase or statue etc. Etymology: F plinthe or L plinthus f. Gk plinthos tile, brick, squared stone

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Plinth Plinth, n. [L. plinthus, Gr. ? a brick or tile, a plinth, perh. akin to E. flint: cf. F. plinthe.] (Arch.) In classical architecture, a vertically faced member immediately below the circular base of a column; also, the lowest member of a pedestal; hence, in general, the lowest member of a base; a sub-base; a block upon which the moldings of an architrave or trim are stopped at the bottom. See Illust. of Column.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(plinths) A plinth is a rectangular block of stone on which a statue or pillar stands. N-COUNT

Moby Thesaurus

baluster, balustrade, banister, base, caryatid, colonnade, column, dado, die, footstalk, jack, newel-post, pedestal, pedicel, peduncle, pier, pilaster, pile, piling, pillar, pole, post, queen-post, shaft, socle, staff, stalk, stanchion, stand, standard, stem, subbase, surbase, trunk, upright