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architrave

[ahr-ki-treyv]
noun Architecture.
  1. the lowermost member of a classical entablature, resting originally upon columns.
  2. a molded or decorated band framing a panel or an opening, especially a rectangular one, as of a door or window.
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Origin of architrave

1555–65; Middle French < Italian; see archi-, trave1
Related formsar·chi·tra·val, adjectivear·chi·traved, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for architrave

Historical Examples of architrave

  • The architrave, for example, has three facias instead of being plain.

    Architecture

    Thomas Roger Smith

  • The entablature is a positive triumph in cornice, frieze and architrave.

  • The architrave has the height of one half of the thickness of a column.

  • C is one of the Faces of the Sabliers which serve instead of an Architrave.

  • The Frise ought not to be so high as the Architrave by a 4th.

British Dictionary definitions for architrave

architrave

noun architect
  1. the lowest part of an entablature that bears on the columns
  2. a moulding around a doorway, window opening, etc
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Word Origin for architrave

C16: via French from Italian, from archi- + trave beam, from Latin trabs
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for architrave

n.

1560s, from Italian architrave, from archi- "beginning, origin" (see archon) + trave "beam," from Latin trabem (nominative trabs) "beam, timber," from PIE *treb- "dwelling" (see thorp).

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper