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
Related Words
See building.
Other Word Forms
- edificial adjective
- unedificial adjective
Etymology
Origin of edifice
1350–1400; Middle English < Anglo-French, Middle French < Latin aedificium, equivalent to aedific ( āre ) to build ( edify ) + -ium -ium
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.
But the drawings appear strange, with the new edifice dwarfing all around it in a way that is disharmonious, dominating.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 2, 2026
Thick layers of sediment rich in organic material lie beneath the volcanic edifice.
From Science Daily • Nov. 26, 2025
And then, the entire edifice crumbled as Baltimore became the focus and fall guy for one of the more infamous investigations of scientific misconduct in the last half of the 20th century.
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 8, 2025
The weakness in the grand edifice of American constitutionalism is that it depends on the determination, in every generation, of those in positions of authority to uphold it.
From Slate • Jan. 29, 2025
Swiftly they drove their horses across a meadow, through shivering aspen groves until, sure enough, the small log edifice his grandfather called Bear Wallow cabin turned up.
From "The Milagro Beanfield War" by John Nichols
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.
