Echinus - Definitions from Dictionary.com

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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

e·chi·nus

Audio Help [i-kahy-nuh

s] Pronunciation Key

–noun, plural -ni

Audio Help [-nahy] Pronunciation Key.

1.	any sea urchin of the genus Echinus.

Architecture.

a.	an ovolo molding, esp. one having an outline with several radii or one carved with an egg-and-dart pattern.

b.	the prominent circular molding supporting the abacus of a Doric or Tuscan capital.

c.	Also called cymatium. the circular molding, usually carved with an egg-and-dart pattern, forming part of an Ionic capital between the volutes and under the balteus.

[Origin: 1325–75; ME < L < Gk echǐnos hedgehog, sea urchin

]

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
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Echinus

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

e·chi·nus Audio Help (ĭ-kī'nəs) Pronunciation Key
n. pl. e·chi·ni (-nī')

A sea urchin of the genus Echinus.
Architecture A convex molding just below the abacus of a Doric capital.

[Latin echīnus, sea urchin, from Greek ekhīnos, sea urchin, hedgehog, from ekhis, adder, viper.]

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WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

echinus
noun
ovolo molding between the shaft and the abacus of a Doric column

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Echinus

Ech"i*nate\, Echinated \Ech"i*na`ted\, a. [L. echinatus. See Echinus.] Set with prickles; prickly, like a hedgehog; bristled; as, an echinated pericarp.

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