westwork

noun

westwork

noun

UK /ˈwɛstwɜːk/

Etymology Calque of German Westwerk, from German West (“west”) + Werk (“work”); equivalent to English west + -work.

1

Architecture The vaulted monumental structure at the western end of a church constructed in some medieval styles, flanked by two towers and containing the entrance.

  • Facing the raised sanctuary over the vast crypt they also often erected at the west end of the nave a towerlike structure with vaulted stories, that we call the "westwork."1987, Malcolm Quantrill, The Environmental Memory: Man and Architecture in the Landscape of Ideas, page 134:

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.