balustrade
Americannoun
-
balustrades
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of balustrade
1635–45; < French balustre baluster + -ade -ade 1; compare Spanish balaustrada, Italian balaustrata
Explanation
A balustrade is a row of spindles that support a railing. You're especially likely to notice balustrades on balconies or bridges. A small wooden or stone pillar or column is a baluster, like the balusters that support a stairway railing. A whole row of balusters lined up together comprise a balustrade. Balustrade is a French word that's rooted in the Italian balausta, "flower of the wild pomegranate," which has a double-curved stem shaped like a baluster.
Vocabulary lists containing balustrade
Art History
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The Castle
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"The Snow Queen" by Hans Christian Andersen
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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 design includes a glass balustrade on a bridge across a lake, commemorative gardens and at another entrance to the park will be a sculpture which it's been announced will be created by Karen Newman.
From BBC ● Jan. 22, 2026
A plush, red velvet fauteuil tucked into the lower right corner of the picture is like an upscale launching pad, which has propelled the man to the balustrade along a tall French window.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 4, 2025
The company was filming the balcony scene from “Romeo and Juliet” on the Wave Hill estate in the Bronx, where lush gardens and a rustic stone balustrade offered a graceful site.
From Washington Post ● Aug. 4, 2021
For Casaus, this often involves stacking visually distinct levels of, say, prickly cactuses and wispy flowering bushes, or branchy ornamental trees and soft grasses, against a balustrade or facade.
From New York Times ● Dec. 6, 2019
As he lifted it again to say something, a man appeared at the balustrade.
From "The Thief Lord" by Cornelia Funke
Steel balustrades from an old staircase found in the basement were repurposed as legs for apartments' bathroom sinks.
From BBC ● Jul. 26, 2026
The trash was replaced with trees, grass, limestone lion statues, granite balustrades and rose beds, which Mr. Reiver first used as an outdoor showroom for his antiques gallery next door.
From New York Times ● Jul. 9, 2021
These fancy and fanciful houses are what can happen when you go nutso with a jigsaw: wooden gingerbread and curlicues and scrollwork and turned balustrades galore.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 13, 2021
A comparable warmth and crispness distinguish Milagros Ponce de León’s set, featuring elegant stair balustrades evoking an ocean liner — Henrietta sails on one — with the observatory office nestled beneath.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 3, 2020
The balustrades are dark wood, and the twisted inlays remind me of crooked fingers, beckoning.
From "The Bletchley Riddle" by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin
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.
