architecture

American  

[ahr-ki-tek-cher] / ˈɑr kɪˌtɛk tʃər /

noun

architectures plural

1. the profession of designing buildings, open areas, communities, and other artificial constructions and environments, usually with some regard to aesthetic effect. Architecture often includes design or selection of furnishings and decorations, supervision of construction work, and the examination, restoration, or remodeling of existing buildings.

2. the character or style of building.

   the architecture of Paris; Romanesque architecture.

3. the action or process of building; construction.

4. the result or product of architectural work, as a building.

5. buildings collectively.

6. Computers. a fundamental underlying design of computer hardware, software, or both.

7. the structure of anything.

   the architecture of a novel.

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architecture British  

/ ˈɑːkɪˌtɛktʃə /

noun

1. the art and science of designing and superintending the erection of buildings and similar structures

2. a style of building or structure

   Gothic architecture

3. buildings or structures collectively

4. the structure or design of anything

   the architecture of the universe

5. the internal organization of a computer's components with particular reference to the way in which data is transmitted

6. the arrangement of the various devices in a complete computer system or network

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• architectural
  adjective
• architecturally
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• architectures
  plural

Etymology

Origin of architecture

First recorded in 1555–65; from Middle French, from Latin architectūra; see architect, -ure

Explanation

Architecture is the process, or profession, of designing buildings and their environments. Architecture also refers to the product of this design and work. The root of the word architecture is the Greek arkhitekton ("master builder"), which makes sense because the ancient Greeks were very skilled at architecture — think of all those columns and stadiums and temples. The Parthenon, which was begun in 447 BC, is one of the greatest examples of architecture from Classical Greece.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

architecture architectures

Most of the engine manufacturers are open to the idea of a V8 architecture, but both Mercedes and Audi want turbochargers to remain and talks are said to be moving in that direction.

From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2026

The real turning point was in 2017, marked by the publication of a paper out of Google called “Attention Is All You Need,” which introduced the architecture behind today’s large language models.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 27, 2026

But experts say existing protections would collapse without the legal architecture of the consent decree to support them.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026

Should Airbus opt for this type of engine while Boeing selects a more conventional architecture, CFM believes it can cater for both giants of the air.

From Barron's ● Jul. 23, 2026

In gardening, in cooking, in naval architecture there are lots of culturally specific choices that we can make, but there are plenty of other things that simply cannot be done.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton

“Next-generation devices increasingly incorporate new architectures and performance-enhancing layers. As a materials-discovery company, we are well positioned to benefit from these technology transitions,” he said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026

Jalapeño was built around the memory, networking and compute patterns of large language models, rather than adapted from general-purpose architectures, according to the companies.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 24, 2026

Over time, researchers may find ways to make models more efficient, reduce the amount of computation required, or change model architectures in ways that bend the cost curve meaningfully lower.

From Barron's ● Jun. 11, 2026

Beyond the current demonstrations, the work supports NASA's broader effort to develop and validate commercial communications architectures that could support missions in low Earth orbit and eventually farther into space.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 6, 2026

All living things on our planet are constructed of organic molecules—complex microscopic architectures in which the car- bon atom plays a central role.

From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan

Related Words

• building
• construction
• engineering
• planning