echinus
Americannoun
plural
echini-
any sea urchin of the genus Echinus.
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Architecture.
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an ovolo molding, especially one having an outline with several radii or one carved with an egg-and-dart pattern.
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the prominent circular molding supporting the abacus of a Doric or Tuscan capital.
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Also called cymatium. the circular molding, usually carved with an egg-and-dart pattern, forming part of an Ionic capital between the volutes and under the balteus.
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noun
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architect an ovolo moulding between the shaft and the abacus of a Doric column
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any of the sea urchins of the genus Echinus, such as E. esculentus ( edible sea urchin ) of the Mediterranean
Etymology
Origin of echinus
1325–75; Middle English < Latin < Greek echînos hedgehog, sea urchin
Vocabulary lists containing echinus
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.
These shafts, as also the echinus moulding of the capitals, are richly carved with the chevron and spirals, probably copied from the brass sheathing of wood columns and doorways referred to by Homer.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 2, Slice 4 "Aram, Eugene" to "Arcueil" by Various
If I was to bend round the rays of the starfish and fill up the interior, I could produce an animal very like the echinus.
From Ernest Bracebridge School Days by Thomas, William I.
The windows of the principal story, the echinus moulding of which is handsome, have bold and enriched pediments, and the centre windows are honoured by massive balustrade balconies.
From Old and New London Volume I by Thornbury, Walter
The beak opens and shuts at intervals, like the jaws of the pedicellari� of the echinus, and there is altogether, in general principle, a remarkable similarity between the structures.
From On the Genesis of Species by Mivart, St. George
Some have only the Latin plural, which usually changes us to i; as, alumnus, alumni; androgynus, androgyni; calculus, calculi; dracunculus, dracunculi; echinus, echini; magus, magi.
From The Grammar of English Grammars by Brown, Goold
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.
