balustrade

American  

[bal-uh-streyd, bal-uh-streyd] / ˈbæl əˌstreɪd, ˌbæl əˈstreɪd /

noun

Architecture.

1. a railing with supporting balusters.

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balustrade British  

/ ˈbæləˌstreɪd /

noun

1. an ornamental rail or coping with its supporting set of balusters

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Other Word Forms

• balustraded
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of balustrade

1635–45; < French balustre baluster + -ade -ade ¹; compare Spanish balaustrada, Italian balaustrata

Explanation

A balustrade is a row of spindles that support a railing. You're especially likely to notice balustrades on balconies or bridges. A small wooden or stone pillar or column is a baluster, like the balusters that support a stairway railing. A whole row of balusters lined up together comprise a balustrade. Balustrade is a French word that's rooted in the Italian balausta, "flower of the wild pomegranate," which has a double-curved stem shaped like a baluster.

Example Sentences

Within a few years he worked his way up to literary manager of the Theater on the Balustrade, Prague's principal showcase for the avant-garde.

From Time Magazine Archive

He was soon out of a job at Balustrade.

From Time Magazine Archive

This Chinese device still dominates in Breaking the Balustrade, which was painted in the 12th century.

From Time Magazine Archive

Balustrade, like the ballets of the old days in Paris, was a pudding of the several arts.

From Time Magazine Archive

At the End next to the Country there’s a Fountain, and a Balustrade of white Marble Breast-high.

From The Memoirs of Charles-Lewis, Baron de Pollnitz, Volume IV Being the Observations He Made in His Late Travels from Prussia thro' Germany, Italy, France, Flanders, Holland, England, &C. in Letters to His Friend. Discovering Not Only the Present State of the Chief Cities and Towns; but the Characters of the Principal Persons at the Several Courts. by P?llnitz, Karl Ludwig von