View synonyms for plinth

plinth

[ plinth ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

, Architecture.

a slablike member beneath the base of a column or pier.
a square base or a lower block, as of a pedestal.
Also called plinth course. a projecting course of stones at the base of a wall; earth table.
(in joinery) a flat member at the bottom of an architrave, dado, baseboard, or the like.

plinth

/ plɪnθ /

Also calledsocle the rectangular slab or block that forms the lowest part of the base of a column, statue, pedestal, or pier
Also calledplinth 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
a flat block on either side of a doorframe, where the architrave meets the skirting
a flat base on which a structure or piece of equipment is placed

Origin of plinth¹

1555–65; earlier plinthus < Latin < Greek plínthos plinth, squared stone, brick, tile

Origin of plinth¹

C17: from Latin plinthus, from Greek plinthos brick, shaped stone

I half-expected him to barnstorm out in riding boots and harangue us, Mussolini-style, underlit from a plinth.

A giant toy duck was waddling on top of the fourth plinth when I arrived in Trafalgar Square mid-morning.

The forty-six stalls in the choir, erected on a plinth of red sandstone, belong to this period (1401-19).

The panels of the desks are elaborately worked, and the stone plinth which supports them is decorated with quatrefoils.

But the lower will seem to be larger, because it will project to the edge of the plinth.

LIX., and c the angle of the square plinth projecting beneath it.

The plinth which forms the upper part of the capital—supporting the entablature by bearing the lower surface of the epistyle beam.

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