pendentive

American  

[pen-den-tiv] / pɛnˈdɛn tɪv /

noun

Architecture.

1. 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.

2. 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.

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adjective

1. functioning as, or substituting for, a pendentive.

   pendentive corbeling.

pendentive British  

/ pɛnˈdɛntɪv /

noun

1. 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

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Etymology

Origin of pendentive

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

Example Sentences

For Beckwourth, 1980, presents a kind of solid wooden hogan with an ovoid top plastered in cracked mud, recalling both the primitive hut and the origins of the pendentive dome.

From Time Magazine Archive

Stalactite work is employed in the pendentive of the smaller apses and in the capitals of the columns carrying the pointed arches.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 2, Slice 4 "Aram, Eugene" to "Arcueil" by Various

The pendentive of our illustration contains St. John with St. Augustine.

From Correggio A Collection Of Fifteen Pictures And A Portrait Of The Painter With Introduction And Interpretation by Correggio

There is not much in the figure of our pendentive to suggest the stern and fearless prophet of the wilderness.

From Correggio A Collection Of Fifteen Pictures And A Portrait Of The Painter With Introduction And Interpretation by Correggio

Above it was a pendentive roof, richly carved and coloured.

From There was a King in Egypt by Lorimer, Norma