clerestory
Americannoun
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Architecture. a portion of an interior rising above adjacent rooftops and having windows admitting daylight to the interior.
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a raised construction, as on the roof of a railroad car, having windows or slits for admitting light or air.
noun
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a row of windows in the upper part of the wall of a church that divides the nave from the aisle, set above the aisle roof
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the part of the wall in which these windows are set Compare blindstorey
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of clerestory
1375–1425; late Middle English, equivalent to clere clear + story story 2
Vocabulary lists containing clerestory
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:
The lighting is bright to the point of excess, overpowering the light from the stained-glass windows of the clerestory.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 3, 2025
Fading daylight pours in through the clerestory high up in the nave, sending dust-filled shafts across a space so staggeringly tall it could have been designed by giraffes.
From Slate ● Feb. 26, 2022
But it wasn’t until Saturday, with the winter sun shining through the clerestory windows of Allen Fieldhouse, that they finally took to the floor together.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 11, 2021
Walls of glass and clerestory windows brighten the 10,000-square-foot floor plan that features 16-foot ceilings over warm hardwood floors.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 27, 2021
And the last stage was the clerestory, which consisted of sixty-foot windows that reached right up to the roof.
From "Cathedral: The Story of Its Construction" by David Macaulay
The owner envisioned sun-worshipping clerestories and windows, along with a nothing-fancy-please common area, two separate bedrooms and a private connection to nature — all on an ordinary city lot.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 24, 2021
Details include hardwood floors, clerestories and an eye-catching copper fireplace in the living room.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 6, 2020
Nine concrete triangles and clerestories form a radiating canopy over the living room and a pool terrace split by a retractable glass curtain.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 6, 2016
Soane added domes, clerestories, skylights and cleverly placed mirrors wherever he could to bring natural light to all corners of the house — even the basement.
From New York Times ● Dec. 31, 2010
Once in, I paid litde attention to the architecture, although I knew the terms: clerestories and naves were things I’d written papers about.
From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood
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.
