caryatid

American  

[kar-ee-at-id] / ˌkær iˈæt ɪd /

noun

Architecture.

• caryatids,
  plural
• caryatides
  plural

1. a sculptured female figure used as a column.

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caryatid British  

/ ˌkærɪˈætɪd /

noun

1. a column, used to support an entablature, in the form of a draped female figure Compare telamon

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• caryatidal
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• caryatides
  plural
• caryatids
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of caryatid

1555–65; < Latin Caryātides (singular Caryātis ) < Greek Karyā́tides columns shaped like women, literally, women of Karýai, Laconia

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

caryatid caryatides caryatids

The single square column features crouching figures in the capital who seem to be holding up the arch, a playful evocation of the classical figure of the caryatid or herm.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 21, 2026

In ancient Greece, the culture where male athletes were so highly prized as heroic citizens, a caryatid was a draped female figure used instead of a column as an architectural support.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 15, 2023

Although their name was an architectural inside joke — a caryatid is a type of Greek column that is also a statue of the female likeness — their guileful display took on some serious issues.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 31, 2018

You may think that David Cameron's well-heeled colleagues would give him a marble caryatid bought from the Frieze Masters art fair for his birthday.

From The Guardian ● Oct. 12, 2012

“A caryatid wouldn’t be strong enough for Dad.”

From "The Glass Castle" by Jeannette Walls

On one side was a bookcase supported by caryatides.

From The Paliser case by Edgar Saltus

Sometimes these images were placed on the walls and used as caryatides.

From Religion and Lust or, The Psychical Correlation of Religious Emotion and Sexual Desire by James Weir

It is from imperfect views of this, that the meaning and effect of caryatides have been mistaken: instead of being oppressed by weight, they seem, when well employed, to have no weight to support.

From Beauty Illustrated Chiefly by an Analysis and Classificatin of Beauty in Woman by Alexander Walker

Four huge totem poles, or ponderous carvings, supported the heavy beams of the roof in the manner of caryatides.

From Over the Rocky Mountains to Alaska by Charles Warren Stoddard

Saint Michael, standing on top of a dejected and doubled-up dragon, looks down on figures that are crosses between respectable caryatides and disreputable mermaids.

From Cathedrals of Spain by John A.

Brought together from three separate museum collections, they are lined up in a row, Modernist caryatids of a farewell portal.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 6, 2026

In it, she and Cardi B dress in Grecian goddess-inspired dresses, dance in front of classically inspired statuary, wear headdresses that evoke caryatids and transform into Grecian vases.

From Salon ● Sep. 4, 2021

Their eccentric profile, isolated against white, forms a kind of muscular torso, not unlike Matisse’s 1909 “Bather,” striding through water, or one of Modigliani’s caryatids.

From New York Times ● Mar. 19, 2020

He sat in a ostentatious Greek-style hall bedecked with four caryatids, the draped female figures used in columns — a style first seen in Delphi 2 ½ millennia ago.

From Washington Post ● Dec. 12, 2019

Small kids were perched on tabletops because there weren't enough chairs, and the Epiphany sixth graders stood like caryatids leaning against three of the four walls of the room.

From "The View From Saturday" by E.L. Konigsburg

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