Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun The underside of a structural component, such as a beam, arch, staircase, or cornice.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun In architecture: The under horizontal face of an architrave between columns
- noun The lower surface of an arch.
- noun The ceiling of a room, when divided by cross-beams into panels, compartments, or lacunaria.
- noun The under face of an overhanging cornice, of a projecting balcony, an entablature, a staircase, etc.
- noun In scenepainting, a border. See
scene , 4.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Arch.) The under side of the subordinate parts and members of buildings, such as staircases, entablatures, archways, cornices, or the like. See
Illust. oflintel .
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun architecture The
visible underside of anarch ,balcony ,beam ,cornice ,staircase ,vault or any otherarchitectural element . - noun pipe technology The top point of the inside open section of a pipe or box conduit.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun the underside of a part of a building (such as an arch or overhang or beam etc.)
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Support
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Examples
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A soffit is the material that constructs the eave edge of the roof of a house.
Stink bug weather & tips for keeping them out Kevin Ambrose 2010
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The actual arches are of two orders, each of which has the edge-roll, while under the soffit, which is flat, is another roll between two mouldings that are hook-shaped in section.
Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Ripon A Short History of the Church and a Description of Its Fabric Cecil Walter Charles Hallett
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The door and its soffit, which is formed of a single stone, are ornamented with beautiful sculptures, which are not inferior to those of Baalbec.
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The door and its soffit, which is formed of a single stone, are ornamented with beautiful sculptures, which are not inferior to those of Baalbec.
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The door and its soffit, which is formed of a single stone, are ornamented with beautiful sculptures, which are not inferior to those of Baalbec.
Travels in Syria and the Holy Land John Lewis Burckhardt 1800
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Holes in the lower portion of the roof, called soffit vents, allow the relatively cooler outside air to enter the attic and force the warmer attic air out of the top, or ridge.
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The soffit is the underside of the box, and the fascias are the boards at the corners of the eaves.
EzineArticles 2010
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I don't think you are using the term "soffit" correctly.
The Walls Incarnadine Walter Jon Williams 2007
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I had never heard the word "soffit" before commencing this project.
The Walls Incarnadine Walter Jon Williams 2007
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I'm sorry not to have the word "soffit" to use anymore.
The Walls Incarnadine Walter Jon Williams 2007
knitandpurl commented on the word soffit
"Interior spaces bleed freely into the gardens beyond through projections of wall, soffit and floor, while the forces of nature are freely admitted into the building through expansive apertures, in such a way as neither to render the building fully as an instrument, nor dissolve it into the landscape." (p 279)
John Sadar (2008). The healthful ambience of Vitaglass: light, glass and the curative environment. Architectural Research Quarterly, 12 , pp 269-281
doi:10.1017/S1359135508001206
July 26, 2009