baluster
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Contents
English[edit]
Alternative forms[edit]
- balustre (Commonwealth)
Etymology[edit]
French balustre, from Italian balaustro (“pillar”), from balausta (“wild pomegranate flower”), so named because of resemblance to the swelling form of the half-open flower, from Ancient Greek βαλαύστιον (balaústion), from Semitic (compare Aramaic balatz 'wild pomegranate flower').
Pronunciation[edit]
Noun[edit]
baluster (plural balusters)
- (architecture) A short column used in a group to support a rail, as commonly found on the side of a stairway; a banister.
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1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 3, in The China Governess[1]:
- Sepia Delft tiles surrounded the fireplace, their crudely drawn Biblical scenes in faded cyclamen blending with the pinkish pine, while above them, instead of a mantelshelf, there was an archway high enough to form a balcony with slender balusters and a tapestry-hung wall behind.
- 2004, Alan Hollinghurst, The Line of Beauty, Bloomsbury, 2005, Chapter 17 (i),
- Nick looked at the floor, and at the rhythm of the black-and-gilt S-shaped balusters.
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Synonyms[edit]
Related terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
banister
Categories:
- English terms derived from French
- English terms derived from Italian
- English terms derived from Ancient Greek
- English terms derived from Semitic languages
- English terms derived from Aramaic
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- en:Architecture
