archivolt

American  

[ahr-kuh-vohlt] / ˈɑr kəˌvoʊlt /

noun

Architecture.

1. a molded or decorated band following the extrados of an arch or forming an archlike frame for an opening.

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archivolt British  

/ ˈɑːkɪˌvəʊlt /

noun

1. a moulding around an arch, sometimes decorated

2. the under surface of an arch

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Etymology

Origin of archivolt

1725–35; < French archivolte < Italian archivolto < Medieval Latin *archivoltum, Latinization of Old French arvol < Late Latin arcus volūtus vaulted arch; arch ¹, vault ¹

Example Sentences

On either side of this are two columns of red Vermont marble with white marble capitals and bases, on which rests a broad archivolt enriched with sculpture and varied by voussoirs, alternately white and gray.

From Project Gutenberg

Above the archivolt we see a cross between the Alpha and Omega, and the winged emblems of the Evangelists; laterally, Jeremiah and Isaiah, each with a prophetic text on a scroll; along a frieze below, twelve sheep advancing from the holy cities, Jerusalem and Bethlehem, towards the Divine Lamb, who stands on a mount whence issue the four rivers of Paradise—or, according to perhaps juster interpretation, the four streams of gospel truth.

From Project Gutenberg

Other angels burn incense before Him, and the archivolt above is wrought with an ecstatic multitude of elders, martyrs, and saints, so vivid after all these centuries that one can almost hear the blithe music of their harps.

From Project Gutenberg

The book reveals the secret and is the only book published which explains a simple, practical method whereby the concrete worker is enabled, by employing wood and metal templates of different designs, to mold or model in concrete any Cornice, Archivolt, Column, Pedestal, Base Cap, Urn or Pier in a monolithic form—right upon the job.

From Project Gutenberg

Archivolt, �r′ki-volt, n. the band or moulding which runs round the lower part of the archstones of an arch.

From Project Gutenberg