edifice
[ed-uh-fis]
- a building, especially one of large size or imposing appearance.
- any large, complex system or organization.
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Origin of edifice
Synonym study
1. See building.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for edifice
Contemporary Examples
A stage was erected next to the edifice and hundreds would gather to watch floggings, crying out “Allahu Akbar!”
Historical Examples
A gush of smoke came from a chimney in the rear of the edifice.
Tanglewood TalesNathaniel Hawthorne
When we wriggles he mistakes the agitation of his tail for the trembling of the edifice.
The Devil's DictionaryAmbrose Bierce
No, the truth is absolute, not a stone of the edifice shall be changed.
The Three Cities Trilogy, CompleteEmile Zola
It would be the old question of revolt against the edifice men have built.
The PrisonerAlice Brown
I have laid the foundations deep, that the edifice might endure.
Davenport Dunn, Volume 2 (of 2)Charles James Lever
edifice
- a building, esp a large or imposing one
- a complex or elaborate institution or organization
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Word Origin
C14: from Old French, from Latin aedificium, from aedificāre to build; see edify
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for edifice
n.
late 14c., from Old French edifice "building," from Latin aedificium "building," from aedificare "to erect a building," from aedis, variant of aedes "temple, sanctuary," usually a single edifice without partitions, also, in the plural, "dwelling house, building," originally "a place with a hearth" + the root of facere "to make" (see factitious).
Ædis is from PIE *aidh- "to burn" (cf. Greek aithein "to burn," Sanskrit inddhe "burst into flames," Old Irish aed "fire," Welsh aidd "heat, zeal," Old High German eit "funeral pile"), from root *ai- "to burn."
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper