astragal

American  

[as-truh-guhl] / ˈæs trə gəl /

noun

Architecture, Furniture.

1. a small convex molding cut into the form of a string of beads.

2. a plain convex molding; bead.

3. a molding attached to one or both meeting stiles of a pair of double doors in order to prevent drafts.

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astragal British  

/ ˈæstrəɡəl /

noun

1. architect

   1. Also called: bead.  a small convex moulding, usually with a semicircular cross section

   2. a moulding having the form of a string of beads

2. carpentry a glazing bar, esp in a bookcase

3. anatomy the ankle or anklebone

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Etymology

Origin of astragal

1555–65; < Latin astragalus < Greek astrágalos a vertebra, the huckle-bone, a molding, a kind of vetch; in plural, dice (i.e., huckle-bones)

Example Sentences

A cavetto molding, enriched with a bead and reel astragal and another drilled rope torus, outlines the dark marble facings about the fireplace opening.

From The Colonial Architecture of Philadelphia by Cousins, Frank

An ovolo of conventional egg and dart motive with the customary bead and reel astragal outlines the black marble facings of the fireplace opening.

From The Colonial Architecture of Philadelphia by Cousins, Frank

Examine again the hawk's-beak, the egg-and-dart, the leaf-and- dart, the astragal, the guilloche, the honeysuckle, the meander or fret.

From A History of Greek Art by Tarbell, Frank Bigelow

At the bottom the capital should be of the thickness of the top of the column omitting the congé and astragal.

From The Ten Books on Architecture by Vitruvius Pollio

The Lesbian astragal referred to by Vitruvius, bk. iv. ch. vi., was in all probability an astragal carved with a bead and reel enrichment.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 2, Slice 7 "Arundel, Thomas" to "Athens" by Various