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

Etymology

Origin of caryatid

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

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

They corresponded to the four gods Bacab, who in the Yucatecan mythology were supposed to stand one at each corner of the world, supporting, like gigantic caryatides, the overhanging firmament.

From The Myths of the New World A Treatise on the Symbolism and Mythology of the Red Race of America by Daniel Garrison Brinton

Hence we proceeded to the Erechtheon, whose southern portico is still supported by five caryatides, the sixth having been thrown down.

From Journal of a Visit to Constantinople and Some of the Greek Islands in the Spring and Summer of 1833 by John Auldjo

It has moreover the rare and distinctive feature of what is known as a caryatid porch, that is to say, one in which the entablature is upheld by caryatides or statues representing female figures.

From Architecture by Nancy R E Meugens Bell

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

The feet, as in all the beds of the Empire, consisted of caryatides and sphinxes; it gleamed with richly-gilt eagles, billing like turtle doves, perhaps an emblem of love under the Empire.

From The Prose Writings of Heinrich Heine by Heinrich Heine

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

These marble women are called caryatids, which orginally referred to the priestesses of Artemis at Caryae.

From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood

Related Words

• monument