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cavetto

American  
[kuh-vet-oh, kah-vet-taw] / kəˈvɛt oʊ, kɑˈvɛt tɔ /

noun

Architecture.

plural

cavettos, cavetti
  1. a concave molding the outline of which is a quarter circle.


cavetto British  
/ kəˈvɛtəʊ, kaˈvetto /

noun

  1. architect a concave moulding, shaped to a quarter circle in cross section

"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

Etymology

Origin of cavetto

1670–80; < Italian, equivalent to cav ( o ) (< Latin cavus or cavum hollow place; see cave) + -etto -et

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.

Embedded in this color is a profusion of shapes: balls and balusters, cubes, boxes, spikes, seamed and weathered palings, fragments of ogee and cavetto molding, the fossils of the Age of Wood.

From Time Magazine Archive

One of the most distinctive mouldings is the cavetto, a wide shallow hollow in the centre of a group of mouldings.

From English Villages by Ditchfield, P. H. (Peter Hampson)

The return of the cavetto in 21, 23, and 26, is comparatively rare, and is generally a sign of later date.

From The Stones of Venice, Volume III (of 3) by Ruskin, John

The ornamentation on the bosses of the roof, and in the cavetto below the windows, and round the great arches from the choir aisles, is very varied.

From The Cathedral Church of Peterborough A Description Of Its Fabric And A Brief History Of The Episcopal See by Sweeting, W. D. (Walter Debenham)

They have a singularly archaic and simple profile, composed of a single cavetto and roll, which are circular, on a square plinth.

From The Stones of Venice, Volume II (of 3), by Ruskin, John