bay window

1. Architecture. A large window or series of windows projecting from the outer wall of a building and forming a recess within.
2. Slang. A protruding belly; a paunch.

A window that protrudes from a wall, usually bowed, canted, polygonal, segmental, semicircular, or square-sided in plan; typically one story in height, although sometimes higher; occasionally corbeled out from the face of the wall, as an oriel; Also see angled bay window, bow window, cant window.

bay window

The noun has 2 meanings:

Meaning #1: (informal) slang terms for a paunch
  Synonyms: pot, potbelly, corporation, tummy

Meaning #2: a window that sticks out from the outside wall of a house
  Synonym: bow window

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This article is about the style of window. For the newspaper, see Bay Windows (newspaper).

A bay window is a window space projecting outward from the main walls of a building and forming a bay in a room, either square or polygonal in plan. The angles most commonly used on the inside corners of the bay are 90, 135 and 150 degrees. Bay windows are often associated with Victorian architecture. They first achieved widespread popularity in the 1870s.

The windows are commonly used to provide the illusion of a larger room. They are used to increase the flow of natural light into a building as well as provide views of the outside that would be unavailable with an ordinary window. It is perhaps for these reasons that bay windows have become an architectural staple in San Francisco, a city of limited space.

Photo gallery

Two superposed Renaissance bay windows in Colmar, France

The interior of a multi-story bay window in Chicago, Illinois

Guild house «zur Haue» with heraldry in Zürich, Switzerland

See also

• Oriel window
• Bay window caboose
• Bow window

External links

A San Francisco Chronicle article discussing bay windows.

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