pediment
nounUK /ˈpɛd.ɪ.mənt/
Etymology From the earlier form peremint, perhaps a dialectal alteration of pyramid, under the influence of -ment.
1
Architecture A classical architectural element consisting of a triangular section or gable found above the horizontal superstructure (entablature) which lies immediately upon the columns; fronton.
- Passing the Congregation Shearith Israel on Central Park West (a white whale of a building with a triangular pediment supported by four count ’em four massive Corinthian columns), Professor Solanka scurrying through the downpour remembered the newly bat-mitzvahed thirteen-year-old girl he’d glimpsed through the side door, […]2001, Salman Rushdie, Fury: A Novel, London: Jonathan Cape, →ISBN, page 5:
- Derived terms
- gooseneck pediment, pedimental, pedimented
- Related terms
- frontispiece, tympanum