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.

---

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

---

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

The westernmost pendentive on either side rests on a Perpendicular corbel carved with delicate foliage.

From Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Ripon A Short History of the Church and a Description of Its Fabric by Hallett, Cecil Walter Charles

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

There is foliage upon the capitals of these vaulting-shafts, and upon the capital and base of that which supports the last pendentive of the vaulting.

From Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Ripon A Short History of the Church and a Description of Its Fabric by Hallett, Cecil Walter Charles

It is octagonal in plan, with an inner structure of eight large piers, arranged in a circle, connected by arches which support a pendentive dome.

From The Brochure Series of Architectural Illustration, Volume 01, No. 03, March 1895 The Cloister at Monreale, Near Palermo, Sicily by Various