balustrade
Americannoun
-
balustrades
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of balustrade
1635–45; < French balustre baluster + -ade -ade 1; compare Spanish balaustrada, Italian balaustrata
Explanation
A balustrade is a row of spindles that support a railing. You're especially likely to notice balustrades on balconies or bridges. A small wooden or stone pillar or column is a baluster, like the balusters that support a stairway railing. A whole row of balusters lined up together comprise a balustrade. Balustrade is a French word that's rooted in the Italian balausta, "flower of the wild pomegranate," which has a double-curved stem shaped like a baluster.
Vocabulary lists containing balustrade
Art History
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The Castle
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"The Snow Queen" by Hans Christian Andersen
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
A plush, red velvet fauteuil tucked into the lower right corner of the picture is like an upscale launching pad, which has propelled the man to the balustrade along a tall French window.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 4, 2025
A red-carpeted, balustrade staircase was also erected mid-air, waiting for the train to pull in and for the North Korean leader to step out.
From BBC ● Sep. 14, 2023
Cupping her hands around her mouth to help the sound travel farther, she leans over the balustrade and sends out her succinct message: “It’s the night-watch woman! It just rang 10!”
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 28, 2022
In one of the least weed-infested areas, a large formal pond — the Lower Pool — is framed by a high stone wall, with arched grottoes and capped with a balustrade.
From Washington Post ● Aug. 17, 2021
At the front of the room there was a raised platform with a balustrade in front of it.
From "A Separate Peace" by John Knowles
"This required stone balustrades on the front façade to be reinstated and renewed. Other loose material that posed a risk also had to be removed and repairs carried out to the roof."
From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2023
If, as the New York Times’ Amanda Hess argues, we live in the “golden age of celebrity branding,” liquor is the filigree on its balustrades, the inlay on its armoires, the leaf on its chandeliers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 12, 2023
Today, the tall white facades molder above shops old and new, the flaking stucco reliefs looking preposterous next to the brightly colored laundry draped over the balustrades.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 22, 2022
Printed on black mesh, the powerful images have been hung from the building’s balustrades and tucked into the loggias that flank the museum entrance.
From New York Times ● Aug. 21, 2020
The balustrades are dark wood, and the twisted inlays remind me of crooked fingers, beckoning.
From "The Bletchley Riddle" by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
