spandrel

American  

[span-druhl] / ˈspæn drəl /

Or spandril

noun

1. Architecture. an area between the extradoses of two adjoining arches, or between the extrados of an arch and a perpendicular through the extrados at the springing line.

2. (in a steel-framed building) a panellike area between the head of a window on one level and the sill of a window immediately above.

3. Philately. the decoration occupying the space at the corner of a stamp between the border and an oval or circular central design.

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spandrel British  

/ ˈspændrəl /

noun

1. an approximately triangular surface bounded by the outer curve of an arch and the adjacent wall

2. the surface area between two adjacent arches and the horizontal cornice above them

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Etymology

Origin of spandrel

1470–80; earlier spaundrell, probably < Anglo-French spaundre, itself perhaps cognate with Old French espandre to expand

Explanation

In architecture, a spandrel is the triangle-shaped space between two arches, or between an arch and the rectangle that frames it. Often, a spandrel is formed by a wall, a ceiling, and the curve of an arch. In some structures, the spandrel is a space that's filled with decoration — Paris's Arc de Triomphe, for example, has spandrels at the top corners of its three arches, each carved with ornamental figures. Buildings constructed during the Gothic period commonly have elaborately decorated spandrels. The word comes from the Anglo-French spaundre, which is thought to be a shortened version of espandre, "expand or spread" in Old French.

Example Sentences

Multicolored matte-glaze terra cotta in submarine blue and peach adorns the elaborate top story, main cornice and spandrel sections.

From Seattle Times • Sep. 8, 2023

And if so, is humor a spandrel, a non-adaptive side effect of intelligence, or did it originally serve some reproductive purpose?

From Scientific American • Apr. 16, 2014

From the kitchen and pantry comes the evocative aroma of curmudgeon cooked in its own juice with a leaf of spandrel and a pinch of rime.

From Time Magazine Archive

Here, standing on the living room’s rift cut pine boards and studying the carved spandrel ornaments on the staircase, she seemed to have come to a place long destined for her.

From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy

Well, a spandrel is the small brass ornament at the corner that fills in the triangular gap left between the circular face and the square outline of the case.

From Christopher and the Clockmakers by Stecher, William F. (William Frederick)