architecture

[ahr-ki-tek-cher]

noun

1. the profession of designing buildings, open areas, communities, and other artificial constructions and environments, usually with some regard to aesthetic effect. Architecture often includes design or selection of furnishings and decorations, supervision of construction work, and the examination, restoration, or remodeling of existing buildings.

2. the character or style of building.

   the architecture of Paris; Romanesque architecture.

3. the action or process of building; construction.

4. the result or product of architectural work, as a building.

5. buildings collectively.

6. Computers.,  a fundamental underlying design of computer hardware, software, or both.

7. the structure of anything.

   the architecture of a novel.

architecture

/ ˈɑːkɪˌtɛktʃə /

noun

1. the art and science of designing and superintending the erection of buildings and similar structures

2. a style of building or structure

   Gothic architecture

3. buildings or structures collectively

4. the structure or design of anything

   the architecture of the universe

5. the internal organization of a computer's components with particular reference to the way in which data is transmitted

6. the arrangement of the various devices in a complete computer system or network

Other Word Forms

• architectural adjective
• architecturally adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of architecture¹

First recorded in 1555–65; from Middle French, from Latin architectūra; architect, -ure

Example Sentences

"Jupiter didn't just become the biggest planet -- it set the architecture for the whole inner solar system," Izidoro said.

Read more on Science Daily

In their Physical Review Letters study, the NYU researchers created "metamaterials," which are engineered structures whose properties depend on their architecture rather than on their chemical composition.

Read more on Science Daily

By turning caste into a ledger of entitlements and grievances, the census reduces politics to arithmetic - who gets how much - rather than addressing what Mr Teltumbde calls the "architecture of social injustice".

Read more on BBC

“IBM Loon will validate a new architecture to implement and scale the components needed for practical, high-efficiency quantum error correction,” the company said in a news release.

Read more on Barron's

The automaker plans to turn things around by developing more affordable EVs based on a new vehicle architecture.

Read more on MarketWatch

Related Words

• building 
• construction 
• engineering 
• planning