ogee
nounUS /oʊˈd͡ʒiː/ · UK /əʊˈd͡ʒiː/
Etymology From Middle English *ogeve, egeve, egeove, from Old French œgive, ogive, augive, from Late Latin augiva, of uncertain origin; compare Late Latin ogis (“a support, prop”), Latin augeō (“to increase, strengthen”), Italian and Spanish auge (“highest point of power or fortune, apogee”). Doublet of ogive.
Architecture A double curve in the shape of an elongated S; an object of that shape.
- At the centre of this façade of one story is a porch of two stories with a tall attic and a gable of ogee outline flanked by finials.1905, Charles Herbert Moore, “Chapter 13”, in Character of Renaissance Architecture:
- There is no pronounced ogee arch anywhere, though there is a suspicion of one where the open trefoils of the gables rest upon the containing arches. The tracery too of all the circles is geometrical, i.e., composed of simple curves; there is no flowing or ogee tracery with compound curves.1910, Francis Bond, “Chapter 3”, in Wood Carvings in English Churches:
1 more example
- In front of the leading splasher the frame was given what is called an ogee bend outwards, [...].1959 June, A. G. Dunbar, “The "Cardeans" of the Caledonian”, in Trains Illustrated, page 309:
Architecture A pointed arch made from two ogees.
Mathematics, Sciences An inflection point.
The malar or cheekbone prominence transitioning into the mid-cheek hollow.
Aesthetic facial surgery
The bubble-shaped chamber of a pot still that connects the swan neck to the pot and allows distillate to expand, condense, and fall back into the pot.
- Derived terms
- ogee arch, ogee clock, ogeed, ogee washer
- Related terms
- line of beauty