cupola

American  

[kyoo-puh-luh] / ˈkyu pə lə /

noun

1. Architecture.

   1. a light structure on a dome or roof, serving as a belfry, lantern, or belvedere.

   2. a dome, especially one covering a circular or polygonal area.

2. any of various domelike structures.

3. Metallurgy. a vertical furnace for melting iron to be cast.

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cupola British  

/ ˈkjuːpələ, ˈkjuːpəˌleɪtɪd /

noun

1. a roof or ceiling in the form of a dome

2. a small structure, usually domed, on the top of a roof or dome

3. a protective dome for a gun on a warship

4. a vertical air-blown coke-fired cylindrical furnace in which iron is remelted for casting

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cupola Cultural  

1. A small ornamental structure rising from a roof. Cupolas are often dome shaped.

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Other Word Forms

• cupolated adjective

Etymology

Origin of cupola

1540–50; < Italian < Latin cūpula, equivalent to cūp ( a ) tub + -ula -ule. cup

Example Sentences

In the next instant, I had flown straight down from heaven and, with one fist in front of me, rammed into the cupola of the school.

From Literature

He raised the roof of the house he inherited; added wings, a porch and a cupola; and selected—along with his wife, Martha—the interior’s paint colors, wallpapers and furniture.

From The Wall Street Journal

The great painter replied: “Fill the cupola with gold . . . and that will still not be enough to pay its worth.”

From The Wall Street Journal

“They are still in power. The cupola is intact. But they don’t sleep at night.”

From The Wall Street Journal

Ms. Arcenaux said that she remembered looking down at Earth from the cupola window of the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft on the second day of her journey.

From New York Times