edifice
Americannoun
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a building, especially one of large size or imposing appearance.
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any large, complex system or organization.
noun
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a building, esp a large or imposing one
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a complex or elaborate institution or organization
Synonym Usage
See building.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of edifice
1350–1400; Middle English < Anglo-French, Middle French < Latin aedificium, equivalent to aedific ( āre ) to build ( see edify) + -ium -ium
Explanation
Edifice means a building, but it doesn't mean just any building. To merit being called an edifice, a building must be important. A small but elegant temple can be an edifice, and so can a towering sky scraper. The meaning of edifice has expanded to include a system of ideas — when it is complicated enough to be considered to have walls and a roof, then it is an edifice. You could say that basic facts of addition and subtraction are the foundation on which the edifice of higher math rests.
Vocabulary lists containing edifice
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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.
Merlo’s ambitions and braggadocio didn’t have much of a shelf life: On Wednesday, the company announced it was deconstructing the edifice he had erected, by splitting into two companies.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 6, 2026
The edifice sits on a public transport corridor used to ferry World Cup soccer fans from Manhattan to MetLife stadium in New Jersey, but was not active Tuesday in the absence of any matches there.
From Barron's ● Jul. 7, 2026
But it’s now clear that once you abandon all restraint and say the ends justify the means, even if there’s an argument for it, the whole legal edifice crumbles.
From Salon ● Jun. 4, 2026
If programs pay even when the work isn’t done, the edifice collapses and programs lose their reason for being.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 13, 2026
It was dedicated to the great master of life, the sun, which struck three sides of the edifice as it made its journey each day across the sky.
From "Interpreter of Maladies" by Jhumpa Lahiri
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
