Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun In classic arch., a small pedestal placed on the apex or angle of a pediment for the support of a statue or other ornament.
- noun A statue or an ornament placed on such a pedestal.
- noun Any ornament forming the apex of a building or other structure, or of a monument, such as the anthemia of Greek tombstones or the decorations of some modern architectural balustrades. Compare
antefix . Also calledacroter .
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun One of the small pedestals, for statues or other ornaments, placed on the apex and at the basal angles of a pediment. Acroteria are also sometimes placed upon the gables in Gothic architecture.
- noun One of the pedestals, for vases or statues, forming a part roof balustrade.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun architecture One of the small
pedestals , forstatues or otherornaments , placed on theapex and at thebasal angles of apediment , or upon thegables inGothic architecture . - noun One of the
pedestals , for vases or statues, forming a part roofbalustrade .
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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The gables are each crowned with a figure of Victory, sometimes called an "acroterium," from the architectural name of the tablet on which it stands.
The Jewel City Ben Macomber
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An ever present feature, also, is the palmette acroterium, treated in conventional ceramic style.
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Fortunately a notable example has been preserved in the acroterium of the gable of the
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In the great acroterium of the Heraion, for example, the surface was first covered with a dark varnish-like coating on which the drawing was incised down to the original clay.
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Mr. Failing, who was sitting alone in the garden too ill to read, heard a shout, "Am I an acroterium?"
The Longest Journey 1924
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Calpurnia had, but the following: there was attached to Cæsar's house by way of ornament and distinction pursuant to a vote of the Senate an acroterium, [603] as Livius says, and Calpurnia in her dream seeing this tumbling down lamented and wept.
Plutarch's Lives Volume III. 46-120? Plutarch 1839
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The columns are surmounted by their entablature and a pediment, behind which a low attic rises from the roof of the church to the height of the apex of the pediment; it is crowned with a cornice and blocking-course, and surmounted by an acroterium of nearly its own height, but in breadth only equalling two-thirds of it; this is finished with a sub-cornice and blocking-course, and is surmounted by the tower, which rises from the middle.
The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction Volume 13, No. 386, August 22, 1829 Various
fbharjo commented on the word acroterium
reverse niche? (paradoxical?)
September 11, 2011
hernesheir commented on the word acroterium
acroterion, acroter
December 12, 2013