caryatid

[ kar-ee-at-id ]

See synonyms for caryatid on Thesaurus.com

noun,plural car·y·at·ids, car·y·at·i·des

[kar-ee-at-i-deez]. /ˌkær iˈæt ɪˌdiz/. Architecture.

a sculptured female figure used as a column.: Compare atlas (def. 5).

Origin of caryatid

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

Other words from caryatid

car·y·at·i·dal, adjective

Words Nearby caryatid

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use caryatid in a sentence

The caryatid form of pier is generally found, in temples, in the peristyles of the fore-courts or the hypostyles of the pronaos.
A history of art in ancient Egypt, Vol. I (of 2) | Georges Perrot
Then he noticed Alicia, sitting motionless in her seat, just as he had left her, with the expressionless face of a caryatid.
The Enemies of Women | Vicente Blasco Ibez
It stood probably in the portico and may have served as a caryatid.
Problems in Periclean Buildings | G. W. Elderkin
The famous caryatid porch faces the south, looking toward the Parthenon.
The Brochure Series of Architectural Illustration, Volume 01, No. 08, August 1895 | Various
Observe beneath these rags those caryatid bodies, those austere faces!
The Simple Life | Charles Wagner

British Dictionary definitions for caryatid

caryatid

/ (ˌkærɪˈætɪd) /

nounplural -ids or -ides (-ɪˌdiːz)

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

Origin of caryatid

C16: from Latin Caryātides, from Greek Karuatides priestesses of Artemis at Karuai (Caryae), village in Laconia

Derived forms of caryatid

caryatidal, caryatidean, caryatic or caryatidic (ˌkærɪəˈtɪdɪk), adjective

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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