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corbel

[kawr-buh l]Architecture

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noun

any bracket, especially one of brick or stone, usually of slight extent.

a short horizontal timber supporting a girder.

verb (used with object), cor·beled, cor·bel·ing or (especially British) cor·belled, cor·bel·ling.

to set (bricks, stones, etc.) so as to form a corbel or corbels (usually followed by out).

to support by means of a corbel or corbels.

Origin of corbel

1375–1425; late Middle English < Middle French < Medieval Latin corvellus, equivalent to Latin corv(us) raven¹ + -ellus diminutive suffix

corbeling

[kawr-buh-ling]

noun Architecture.

the construction of corbels.

a system of corbels.

Also especially British, cor·bel·ling.

Origin of corbeling

First recorded in 1540–50; corbel + -ing¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for corbelling

Historical Examples of corbelling

The parapet and corbelling were renewed about forty years ago.
Scottish Cathedrals and Abbeys
Dugald Butler and Herbert Story
The chambers are built of upright slabs and are roofed by corbelling.
Rough Stone Monuments and Their Builders
T. Eric Peet
Buildings in which this system is used are occasionally roofed with slabs, but more often corbelling is employed.
Rough Stone Monuments and Their Builders
T. Eric Peet
The chamber is circular, and roofed partly by corbelling and partly by a large slab.
Rough Stone Monuments and Their Builders
T. Eric Peet
In the passage the roof is of slabs laid right across, but the roof of the chamber is formed by corbelling.
Rough Stone Monuments and Their Builders
T. Eric Peet

British Dictionary definitions for corbelling

corbelling

US corbeling

noun

a set of corbels stepped outwards, one above another

corbel

noun

Also called: truss a bracket, usually of stone or brick

verb -bels, -belling or -belled or US -bels, -beling or -beled

(tr) to lay (a stone or brick) so that it forms a corbel

Word Origin for corbel

C15: from Old French, literally: a little raven, from Medieval Latin corvellus, from Latin corvus raven

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

Word Origin and History for corbelling

corbel

n.

mid-14c., from Old French corbel, diminutive of corb "raven," from Latin corvus (see raven); so called from its beaked shape.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper