relieving arch

noun

1. discharging arch.

Word History and Origins

Origin of relieving arch¹

First recorded in 1840–50

Example Sentences

The discharging or relieving arch, built above the architrave or lintel to take off the weight of the superstructure.

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The relieving arch as used in Egypt, in the pyramid of Cheops; and in Saxon architecture, where it was built with Roman bricks or tiles, or consisted of two sloping slabs of stone.

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Long before this, however, and already in the 2nd century A.D. in Syria, this relieving arch had been moulded and decorated, with the result of emphasizing it as a new architectural feature.

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The square, heavy door was usually contrived below a relieving arch, whose archivolt was richly charged with sculptured and painted ornaments; the twin windows were supported by a pied-droit or on small columns.

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Changes of direction on pipes shall be made with "Y"-branches, both above and below the ground, and where such pipes pass through a new foundation-wall a relieving arch shall be built over it, with a 2-inch space on either side of the pipe.

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