cornice

American  

[kawr-nis] / ˈkɔr nɪs /

noun

1. Architecture.

   1. any prominent, continuous, horizontally projecting feature surmounting a wall or other construction, or dividing it horizontally for compositional purposes.

   2. the uppermost member of a classical entablature, consisting of a bed molding, a corona, and a cymatium, with rows of dentils, modillions, etc., often placed between the bed molding and the corona.

2. any of various other ornamental horizontal moldings or bands, as for concealing hooks or rods from which curtains are hung or for supporting picture hooks.

3. a mass of snow, ice, etc., projecting over a mountain ridge.

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verb (used with object)

• cornices,
  present (3rd person singular)
• corniced,
  past participle,  past
• cornicing
  present participle

1. to furnish or finish with a cornice.

cornice British  

/ ˈkɔːnɪs /

noun

1. architect

   1. the top projecting mouldings of an entablature

   2. a continuous horizontal projecting course or moulding at the top of a wall, building, etc

2. an overhanging ledge of snow formed by the wind on the edge of a mountain ridge, cliff, or corrie

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verb

1. (tr) architect to furnish or decorate with or as if with a cornice

Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

Participles

• cornicing
  present
• corniced
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• cornice
  simple
• cornices
  simple
• have corniced
  perfect
• has corniced
  perfect
• am cornicing
  progressive
• are cornicing
  progressive
• is cornicing
  progressive
• have been cornicing
  perfect progressive
• has been cornicing
  perfect progressive

Past

• corniced
  simple
• had corniced
  perfect
• was cornicing
  progressive
• were cornicing
  progressive
• had been cornicing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will cornice
  simple
• will have corniced
  perfect
• will be cornicing
  progressive
• will have been cornicing
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of cornice

1555–65; < Italian: literally, crow (< Latin cornix ); for the meaning, compare Greek korṓnē crow, crown

Explanation

If your friend wants you to help repair the cornice on his house, you’d better bring a ladder. The cornice is the decorative molding that stretches horizontally along the top of some buildings. The cornice that you see on some buildings serves as a decorative element and also functions as a way to keep rainwater from dripping down the walls. The cornice juts away from the building enough that the rainwater flows away from the building. Not just for buildings, the word cornice can also describe raised decorative molding right under the ceiling in a room or a similar decorative topping that crowns some windows to hide curtain rods.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

cornice cornices corniced cornicing

On the right, a cornice suggests a building.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 31, 2025

In the most superficial way, the addition is a contextual match for the main house—it is white, and it is a similar height, with a cornice and a matching parapet.

From Slate ● Aug. 5, 2025

A blast wave is said to have damaged a plastered cornice on the eastern façade but not affected the interior.

From BBC ● Jun. 10, 2025

As your eyes adjust in the dark, unlit details fade in: a coat of aluminum paint on the cornice, a staircase through the curtain, a tracing of mortar among stones in the foundation.

From New York Times ● Apr. 9, 2024

A single billboard, mounted on the cornice of the building across the alley, dominates the view; its surface gleams three yards beyond the glass.

From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr

"Recent observations show areas of unstable snow, with cornices forming in several locations near the top of the mountain," it said, in a Facebook post on Thursday.

From BBC ● Jan. 10, 2026

With its tall ceiling, round arches, chandeliers and decorated friezes, plus its famed white glazed terra-cotta facade adorned with festoons, cornices and Corinthian keystones, the building certainly has the pomp of a grand museum.

From Seattle Times ● Mar. 21, 2023

When warmed by the sun, cornices can break.

From New York Times ● Apr. 27, 2018

Columns were piled on pilasters, rusticated plinths groaned under heaving cornices and every junction was elaborated with a twiddly moulding.

From The Guardian ● Sep. 12, 2017

As a result, architects relied on old and dangerous habits, such as substituting wood for stone and decorating their buildings with wooden awnings, cupolas, and cornices.

From "The Great Fire" by Jim Murphy

Within Chinatown’s gridlike layout, you can spot a few examples of the low-rise Italianate brick or white stucco and corniced buildings that predate a devastating fire in 1900.

From New York Times ● Jan. 23, 2020

The program is not for the faint of heart, as the terrain is dramatic and moderately technical, often requiring the guide to short-rope guests on the rocky outcrops and corniced sections.

From Time Magazine Archive

The seat of Uniforce is Fontainebleau, the carved and corniced residence of French kings.

From Time Magazine Archive

He had one day of seclusion with his family in the big, ornately corniced house of Mrs. David Wallace, his mother-in-law.

From Time Magazine Archive

We had to haul the sledge up and over each knife-edged or fantastically corniced top, then slide her down, and up over the next one: for they never seemed to run parallel to our course.

From "The Left Hand of Darkness" by Ursula K. Le Guin

Running along the edge, where the ceiling meets the walls is block cornicing, which Phramaha Prasert said was so that the temple remained "sympathetic to its Edinburgh location".

From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2022

Somewhere, someone is running a judgemental finger along your cornicing.

From The Guardian ● Dec. 23, 2018

Gaston Hall itself, with its elaborately painted walls, stained glass windows and wood cornicing is named after William Gaston, the college’s first student, who owned numerous slaves but also supported the abolition of slavery.

From The Guardian ● Sep. 1, 2016

Yanique makes it clear from the beginning that she is not interested in the framing and cornicing of realism.

From The New Yorker ● Sep. 11, 2014

The walls and ceilings were peppermint, and here and there, you’d see a bit of fishing net, or a rotted piece from a boat stuck up high near the cornicing.

From "Never Let Me Go" by Kazuo Ishiguro