finial

[fin-ee-uh l, fahy-nee-]

See more synonyms for finial on Thesaurus.com

noun

Architecture. a relatively small, ornamental, terminal feature at the top of a gable, pinnacle, etc.
an ornamental termination to the top of a piece of furniture, or of one part of such a piece.
Typography. a curve terminating the main stroke of the characters in some italic fonts.

Origin of finial

1400–50; late Middle English, derivative of Latin fīnis end; see -al¹

Related formsfin·i·aled, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for finial

lid, head, point, tip, cap, cover, ceiling, roof, face, surface, height, peak, zenith, climax, crown, culmination, apex, spire, capital, crest

Examples from the Web for finial

Historical Examples of finial

This is especially the case with regard to the shape of the finial.
The Bronze Age and the Celtic World
Harold Peake
Where the finial joins the roof a rayed sun of cast metal is placed.
Leadwork
W. R. Lethaby
Beasts project at the gable angles, and the summit it crowned by a finial.
The Shores of the Adriatic
F. Hamilton Jackson
Spires end usually in a boss or finial, surmounted by a weathercock.
Architecture
Thomas Roger Smith
And not content with this exuberance in the external ornaments of the arch, the finial interferes with its traceries.
The Stones of Venice, Volume III (of 3)
John Ruskin

British Dictionary definitions for finial

finial

noun

an ornament on top of a spire, gable, etc, esp in the form of a foliated fleur-de-lys
an ornament at the top of a piece of furniture, etc

Derived Formsfinialed, adjective

Word Origin for finial

C14: from finial (adj), variant of final

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for finial

"ornament at the top of a spire, gable, etc.," mid-15c., from fyniall "putting an end to, binding" (early 15c.), a variant of final.