plinth
Americannoun
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a slablike member beneath the base of a column or pier.
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a square base or a lower block, as of a pedestal.
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Also called plinth course. a projecting course of stones at the base of a wall; earth table.
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(in joinery) a flat member at the bottom of an architrave, dado, baseboard, or the like.
noun
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Also called: socle. the rectangular slab or block that forms the lowest part of the base of a column, statue, pedestal, or pier
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Also called: plinth course. the lowest part of the wall of a building that appears above ground level, esp one that is formed of a course of stone or brick
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a flat block on either side of a doorframe, where the architrave meets the skirting
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a flat base on which a structure or piece of equipment is placed
Other Word Forms
- plinthless adjective
- plinthlike adjective
Etymology
Origin of plinth
1555–65; earlier plinthus < Latin < Greek plínthos plinth, squared stone, brick, tile
Explanation
If a building has columns, you can call the platform or base on which a column rests a plinth. The plinth typically lies between the column and the ground. In architecture, a plinth is one of the basic building elements. While it's most common for a plinth to support a pillar or column, it can also be used as a base or slab underneath a statue, a bust, or a decorative vase, and in engineering a plinth is the support for a dam. The word comes from the Greek root plinthos, "brick" or "squared stone."
Vocabulary lists containing plinth
Lord of the Flies
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Built To Last: Architectural Parlance
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The Namesake
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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 thing on the left is just a geometric slab of no discernible purpose, a plinth with no identity.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 31, 2025
In 2014, a man was arrested after spending 48 hours on the statue plinth as part of Occupy Democracy protests in Westminster, but was subsequently acquitted of all charges.
From BBC • May 6, 2025
A new plaque has been installed on the plinth where a slave trader's statue once stood.
From BBC • Apr. 17, 2025
The council said other potential options to stop people touching the statue such as moving it or raising the plinth that it sits on are "under review".
From BBC • Apr. 2, 2025
Some of her last words are carved on the statue’s plinth.
From "Code Name Verity" by Elizabeth Wein
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.
