The Roedde House Nitty Gritty
Do you know what words or vocabulary an
architect uses? Here is how we are going to learn!
The following is a list of words that are important in the
world of architecture. Write them on cards and trade them with people in your class
and see if you can get an entire set!
Vocabulary
baluster: a short, usually turned post: a banister.
balustrade: a series of balusters supporting a rail or coping.
bargeboard: A wide, flat board which seals the space below
the roof, between the shingles and the wall on a gable end.
bay window: a projection with a window on a house facade.
It may be curved (bow window) or angular (canted) in plan.
capital: the head or top part of a column or pilaster.
casement: a window frame hinged on one side so that it swings out or in to
open.
clapboarding: the overlapping wedge-shaped boards forming
the external covering of a timber-framed structure.
column: a vertical member, circular in section, and
normally with a gentle taper (entasis). In classical architecture, it is composed of a
base, shaft and capital.
corbel -- a.projecting stone or timber block, often carved,
supporting a horizontal member such as a beam.
cupola -- a dome, usually small, topping a roof or turret.
dentil -- one of a series of small blocks used to form an
ornamental row; the collective term is dentillations, or a dentillated cornice.
dormer -- a roofed projection set into the slope of a roof,
usually containing a window.
eaves -- that part of a sloping roof which overhangs the wall.
elevation -- one of the external faces of a building; also,
an architect's drawing of a facade, set out to scale.
fenestration -- the arrangement of windows in a building.
finial -- an ornament on top of a spire, pinnacle, gable, etc.
gable -- that part of the wall immediately under the end of
a pitched roof, cut into a triangular shape by the sloping sides of the roof.
glazing bars -- the bars, usually of wood, that hold panes
of window glass in place. Also termed astragals.
hipped roof -- a roof with four sloped sides.
joists -- horizontal timbers laid parallel as a base for the floorboards.
lights -- in a window, the openings between mullions; more generally,
panes.
moulding -- a decorative contour, in wood or stone.
mullion -- an upright bar that vertically divides a window or other
opening.
muntin -- the subsidiary vertical member of the frame of a door, window,
panel, etc.
newel post -- the post at the end of a staircase, usually attached to both
the handrail and the string.
order -- in classical architecture, a particular style of column and
entablature, each with its own distinctive proportions and detailing. The Five Orders are
Doric, Ionic, Corinthian, Tuscan and Composite. The first three are derived from ancient
Greek architecture; Tuscan and Composite are Roman adaptations of the earlier Greek
models.
rail -- a horizontal member of the frame of a door, panel, etc.
riser -- the vertical surface of a step.
sash window -- a window formed with sashes -- that is, glazed wooden frames
which slide up and down in vertical grooves by means of counterbalanced weights. The
standard form has two moveable sashes and is termed a "double-hung sash."
shaft -- the main vertical part of a column between the base and the
capital.
shingle -- wooden tiles used to clad exterior walls,
especially in American Shingle-style houses.
sill -- the horizontal ledge at the bottom of a window
frame.
stile -- a main vertical member of the frame of a door, panel, etc.
string -- one of the two sloping members that hold the ends
of the treads and risers in a staircase.
studs -- the upright timbers in a timber-framed building.
tongue-and-groove -- a method of joining wood so that the
edge of one board has a tongue, or lip, that fits into a groove on the edge of another
board.
tread -- the horizontal surface of a step.
trelliswork -- an open pattern of interwoven strips,
usually of wood but sometimes metal; also called latticework.
veranda -- a roof-covered but otherwise open gallery, porch
or balcony supported by posts.
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