Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A supporting column sculptured in the form of a draped female figure.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun pl. caryatids, caryatides (-idz, -i-dēz). In architecture, a figure of a woman dressed in long robes, serving as a column to support an entablature or to fill any other office of a column.
- Pertaining to or of the form of a caryatid; caryatic.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Arch.) A draped female figure supporting an entablature, in the place of a column or pilaster.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A sculpted female figure serving as an
architectural element, used as a support forentablature .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a supporting column carved in the shape of a person
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Sometimes it may be called a caryatid, which is, as I understand it, a cruel device of architecture, representing a man or a woman, obliged to hold up upon his or her head or shoulders a structure which they did not build, and which could stand just as well without as with them.
The Complete Project Gutenberg Writings of Charles Dudley Warner Charles Dudley Warner 1864
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Sometimes it may be called a caryatid, which is, as I understand it, a cruel device of architecture, representing a man or a woman, obliged to hold up upon his or her head or shoulders a structure which they did not build, and which could stand just as well without as with them.
My Summer in a Garden Charles Dudley Warner 1864
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Schlossberg, where he performed the function of a kind of caryatid, and looked, in the black of his skin and the white of his flowing costume, like a colossal figure carved in ebony and ivory.
Complete March Family Trilogy William Dean Howells 1878
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A day or two after Mrs. March had met Mrs. Adding, she went with her husband to revere a certain magnificent blackamoor whom he had discovered at the entrance of one of the aristocratic hotels on the Schlossberg, where he performed the function of a kind of caryatid, and looked, in the black of his skin and the white of his flowing costume, like a colossal figure carved in ebony and ivory.
Their Silver Wedding Journey — Volume 2 William Dean Howells 1878
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A day or two after Mrs. March had met Mrs. Adding, she went with her husband to revere a certain magnificent blackamoor whom he had discovered at the entrance of one of the aristocratic hotels on the Schlossberg, where he performed the function of a kind of caryatid, and looked, in the black of his skin and the white of his flowing costume, like a colossal figure carved in ebony and ivory.
Their Silver Wedding Journey — Complete William Dean Howells 1878
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Eventually the statuesque and barely made-up Helena Pikon, often resembling a caryatid in her straight-and-narrow stance, takes on the persona of a sorrowing Penelope from the "Odyssey" as she makes her mark as something of a loner in this community, often trailing tristesse in her wake.
Tides of Memory Robert Greskovic 2010
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The porch on the left is supported by caryatid figures.
Erechtheum James Gurney 2010
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The porch on the left is supported by caryatid figures.
Archive 2010-04-01 James Gurney 2010
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No marble caryatid was as sleek and lovely as her PowerBook.
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Nor am I supporting any of the architecture (which, I also learn from Wikipedia, would then properly make me a telemon or atlas, the male version of a caryatid).
I'm a caryatid! ewillett 2007
seanmeade commented on the word caryatid
learned this from D&D: the monster called a caryatid column
March 26, 2007
arby commented on the word caryatid
NOUN: Inflected forms: pl. car·y·at·ids or car·y·at·i·des (--dz)
Architecture A supporting column sculptured in the form of a draped female figure.
ETYMOLOGY: From Latin Carytides, caryatids, from Greek Karutides, priestesses of Artemis at Caryae, caryatids, from Karuai, Caryae, a village of Laconia in southern Greece with a famous temple to Artemis.
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I learned it from Stranger in a Strange Land.
Ahh, good times.
*goes to add grok to her words*
May 7, 2007
elisheba commented on the word caryatid
the male counterpart of a caryatid is called telamon, and coincides with the mythological figure of the titan, Atlas
September 17, 2008
elisheba commented on the word caryatid
in italian, a cariatide caryatid is also a pejorative noun for an old, backward-looking person (e.g. una vecchia cariatide del regime - a diehard caryatid of the regime), or a mature/old woman.
September 17, 2008
elisheba commented on the word caryatid
the 'sala delle cariatidi' in milan is a very atmospheric, redolent XVIII century hall of mirrors in the royal palace, you can see some photos of it here (taken by elisheba:-)): http://tinyurl.com/5nh58n
September 17, 2008