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. Cf. cup

Explanation

A cupola is a rounded structure on top of a building's roof. Most cupolas have the shape of a dome, or even take the form of a small dome on top of a larger dome. Although the majority of cupolas are dome-shaped, the small, windowed projection on top of a train caboose is also called a cupola. A raised gun turret on a tank is yet another type of cupola, as is a furnace used for refining metal. The word cupola is Italian, from the Late Latin root cupula, "a little tub," a diminutive form of cupa, "cask or barrel."

Example Sentences

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 • Feb. 7, 2026

On a post office, I saw a strip of asphalt shingles under a cupola that had a copper roof.

From Seattle Times • Feb. 26, 2024

You capture the beauty looking out of the cupola, but also the claustrophobia of an I.S.S. “bedroom.”

From Salon • Jan. 19, 2024

Its three spectacular bedrooms, one in a former chapel under a cupola, is imagined, the hotel managers say, as a Roman refuge for Arab sheikhs, Harry and Meghan, and Hollywood royalty.

From New York Times • Sep. 14, 2023

It stood well back from the rattle and bustle of Marlborough Street, with its glassy-eyed copper Indian on top of the cupola and its carved and colored lion and unicorn of Britain over the door.

From "Johnny Tremain" by Esther Hoskins Forbes