Glossary of Terms 

architrave

the moulded frame around a door or window opening.

ashlar

squared-off blocks of stone used in building.

baluster

a short, usually turned post; a banister.

balustrade

a series of balusters supporting a rail or coping.

baseboard

the flat moulding running around the base of a wall (also called a skirting board).

beaded moulding

a small curved moulding decorated by a series of beads.

bolection moulding

a moulding covering the uneven joint made by two members of different sizes, especially popular for fielded panelling in the late 17th and 18th centuries.

Boxwinder

a staircase built into the space next to the chimney flue and hidden behind a door in the fireplace wall; it was common in small, fine houses in the United States in the 18thand early 19th centuries.

Brickbond

a form of tiling where tiles are laid in rectangular tiles of equal widths.

Cabochons

diamond or square shaped stone inserts used to formalise a floor.

Capital

the head or top part of a column or pilaster.

carreaux d'octagones

a floor pattern in which small black diamonds (also known as cabochons see above) are laid at the intersections of slabs of lighter coloured stone.

Cartouche

a panel or tablet in round or oval form, often used for an ancient inscription or a coat of arms.

chair rail

a wall moulding that tops the dado and prevents chairs pushed against the wall from damaging the surface; also called a dado rail.

Chamfer

the surface created by cutting off the corner of a square block of wood, stone, etc, usually at a 45 degree angle.

Cheeks

the sloping sides of a fireplace opening.

chimney breast

the stone, brick or cement structure that projects into a room and contains a fireplace flue.

chimney piece

a fireplace surround and its overmantel.

closed-string

the term applied to a staircase whose profile of treads and risers is covered by a string, or sloping member which supports the balustrade.

Colonnade

a range of columns supporting either arches or a straight entablature.

Column

a vertical member, circular in section, and normally with a gentle taper. In classical architecture it is composed of a base, shaft and capital.

Coping

a cap or covering on top of a wall or surround (i.e.: a coping for the surround of a swimming pool).

Corbel

a projecting stone or timber block, often carved, supporting a horizontal member such as a beam.

Corinthian

the latest and most ornate of the Classical orders of architecture. The column is slender, and usually fluted, the capital elaborately carved with acanthus leaves.

Cornice

a projecting moulding located where the ceiling or roof and wall meet; in classical architecture, the projecting top of an entablature.

crown moulding

an alternative term for cornice.

Dado

the lower wall surface, from the chair rail down to the baseboard/skirting board.

dado rail

a wall moulding that tops the dado and prevents chairs pushed against the wall from damaging the surface; also called a chair rail.

Doric

the earliest and plainest of the classical Orders. Doric columns usually have no base; the shaft is thick and broadly fluted, the capital spare and unornamented.

egg-and-dart moulding

a decorative moulding craved with a series of alternating rounded ovals and arrowheads.

encaustic tiles

earthenware tiles patterned with inlays of coloured clay slips.

Entablature

in classical architecture, the top of an Order, made up of an architrave, frieze and cornice.

Fluting

shallow vertical grooves on the shaft of a column.

Frieze

the middle section of an entablature; a panel below the upper moulding or cornice of a wall.

Greek key pattern

a geometrical decoration made of continuous right-angled lines.

Guilloche

decoration of interlaced bands, forming a pattern of circles or loops.

hand-landing

a landing half-way up a flight of stairs.

Hearth

the floor of a fireplace, usually extending out into a room.

Ionic

one of the classical Orders of architecture, characterised by fluted columns and prominent volutes

Italian moulding

a heavy, wide moulding that usually surrounds a fireplace; a type of bolection moulding.

Jamb

the straight vertical side of a doorway, arch or window.

Keystone

a central stone in the curve of an arch or vault.

Lintel

a supporting wood or stone beam across the top of an opening such as that of a door or window.

Mantel

the frame surrounding a fireplace; often used to denote just the shelf.

Moulding

a decorative contour, in wood or stone.

Mullion

an upright bar that vertically divides a window or other opening.

Nosing

the rounded edging of a stairtread, over hanging the riser.

open-string

the term applied to a staircase whose profile of treads and risers is visible from the side (that is, not closed off by a string). The treads support the balustrade.

Orangery

a greenhouse or other such glassed structure where oranges and other such tender plants are grown.

over-mantel

a decorative treatment above a fireplace, often incorporating a painting or mirror.

Palladian style

an interpretation of the classical style developed by Andrea Palladio (1508-1580). Palladianism was revived in England in the early 18th century and influenced American architecture in the late 18th century.

Patina

a gloss or aging produced by time and natural wear.

Piazza

an American term for a broad verandah.

Pilaster

a flat rectangular classical column fixed against a wall, or used to frame a doorway, fireplace, etc.

Plinth

the projecting base of a wall or column.

Portico

a roofed entrance porch, often with columns.

quarry tile

an unglazed floor tile.

Reveal

the inner surface of a doorcase or window opening, between the edge of the frame and the outer surface of the wall at right angles to it. The corresponding space above is the soffit.

Riser

the vertical surface of a step.

Shaft

the main vertical part of a column between the base and the capital.

skirting board

the flat moulding running around the base of a wall (also called a baseboard).

Soffit

the underside of a beam, arch or other architectural element; also the reveal of the head of a door or window.

String

one of the two sloping members that hold the ends of the treads and risers in a staircase.

Terracotta

unglazed, fired clay used for tiles, architectural ornament, garden pots, etc.

Terrazzo

a polished finish for floors and walls consisting of marble or stone chips set into mortar.

Tread

the horizontal surface of a step.

trompe l'oeil

a decorative effect, such as a painting of architectural detail or a vista, that gives the illusion of reality.

Vernacular

a term describing humble, often rural architecture, with little or no stylistic pretension, or in a purely regional style, or in a manner based on a naïve misunderstanding of high style architecture.

Vitruvian scroll

a classical frieze ornament, made up of a series of wavelike scrolls; also called a running dog.

Volutes

in classical architecture, spiral scrolls, most characteristically forming the capital of a Greek Ionic column. Also, scroll-shaped supporting members strengthening a wall or serving as brackets.