pendentive

[ pen-den-tiv ]

/ pɛnˈdɛn tɪv /

Save This Word!

noun Architecture.

any of several spandrels, in the form of spherical triangles, forming a transition between the circular plan of a dome and the polygonal plan of the supporting masonry.

any of several masonry devices, as squinches or trompes, for forming a transition between a circular or polygonal construction, as a dome or lantern, and supporting masonry of a different plan.

adjective

functioning as, or substituting for, a pendentive: pendentive corbeling.

QUIZ

QUIZ YOURSELF ON "IS" VS. "ARE"

"Is" it time for a new quiz? "Are" you ready? Then prove your excellent skills on using "is" vs. "are."

Question 1 of 7

IS and ARE are both forms of which verb?

have

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of pendentive

1720–30; pendent + -ive, modeled on French pendentif

Words nearby pendentive

pendant, Pendelikon, pendency, pendent, pendente lite, pendentive, Penderecki, pending, Pendleton, Pendolino, Pend Oreille

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use pendentive in a sentence

The last pendentive of the vaulting rests on a single shaft springing directly from a head-corbel.
Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Ripon|Cecil Walter Charles Hallett
The westernmost pendentive on either side rests on a Perpendicular corbel carved with delicate foliage.
Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Ripon|Cecil Walter Charles Hallett
The pendentive under the dome is similar in its construction to those under the dome of the curious church of Ainay, at Lyons.
Some Account of Gothic Architecture in Spain|George Edmund Street
In these examples a pendentive is formed at each angle of the square, and thus the octagonal base is formed for the vault.
Some Account of Gothic Architecture in Spain|George Edmund Street

The playful little fellow on the clouds below St. Matthew's feet looks across at the sprites of the opposite pendentive.
Correggio|Estelle M. Hurll

British Dictionary definitions for pendentive

pendentive

/ (pɛnˈdɛntɪv) /

noun

any of four triangular sections of vaulting with concave sides, positioned at a corner of a rectangular space to support a circular or polygonal dome

Word Origin for pendentive

C18: from French pendentif, from Latin pendens hanging, from pendere to hang

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