buttress

(bŭt'rĭs)

1. A structure, usually brick or stone, built against a wall for support or reinforcement.
2. Something resembling a buttress, as:
   1. The flared base of certain tree trunks.
   2. A horny growth on the heel of a horse's hoof.
3. Something that serves to support, prop, or reinforce: "The law is by its very nature a buttress of the status quo" (J. William Fulbright).

1. To support or reinforce with a buttress.
2. To sustain, prop, or bolster: "The author buttresses her analysis with lengthy dissections of several of Moore's poems" (Warren Woessner).

[Middle English buteras, from Old French bouterez, from bouter, to strike against, of Germanic origin.]

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For more information on buttress, visit Britannica.com.

noun

A means or device that keeps something erect, stable, or secure: brace, crutch, prop, shore, stay, support, underpinning. See support/oppose.

verb

To present evidence in support of: back (up), corroborate, substantiate. See support/oppose.

Definition: support, bolster
Antonyms: let down, weaken

An exterior mass of masonry set at an angle to or bonded into a wall which it strengthens or supports; buttresses often absorb lateral thrusts from roof vaults. Also see flying buttress, hanging buttress.

buttresses

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• Building and Machine Parts - buttress: projecting support structure
• Roofs and Towers - buttress: projecting support structure providing stability for wall or building
• Classical Elements and Design - buttress: masonry supporting arch or vault

Look up Buttress in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

This article is about an architectural structure. For the large tree root, see Buttress root. For slang, see buttocks.

A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall.^[1] Buttresses are fairly common on more ancient buildings, as a means of providing support to act against the lateral (sideways) forces arising out of the roof structures that lack adequate bracing.

The term counterfort can be synonymous with Buttress,^[2] and is often used when referring to dams, retaining walls and other structures holding back earth.

Contents 1 Terminology 2 See also 3 Gallery 4 References 5 External links

Terminology

In addition to flying and ordinary buttresses, brick and masonry buttresses that support wall corners can be classified according to their ground plan. A clasping or clamped buttress has an L shaped ground plan surrounding the corner, an angled buttress has two buttresses meeting at the corner, a setback buttress is similar to an angled buttress but the buttresses are set back from the corner, and a diagonal (or 'french') buttress is at 45 degrees to the walls.^[3][4]

Buttress ground plans

Angled buttress   Clasping or clamped buttress   Diagonal or 'french' buttress   Setback buttress

See also

• Flying buttress , Retaining wall
• Cathedral architecture , Cathedral diagram

Gallery

A buttress (and mostly concealed, a flying buttress) supporting walls at the Palace of Westminster   Buttresses at Sint-Petrus-en-Pauluskerk; Ostend, Belgium   Buttress at The Saviour Chapel, Żejtun, Malta   Flying buttress at Lincoln Cathedral, England   Wall buttresses in the form of a blind arcade cavity wall at Canton Viaduct, United States   Thick buttresses characterize Earthquake Baroque architecture like Paoay Church, Philippines   Buttresses of the western side of the Mosque of Uqba in Kairouan, Tunisia

References

1. ^ Buttress, Encyclopedia Britannica, http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/86773/buttress 
2. ^ "Counterfort", www.1911encyclopedia.com, http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Counterfort 
3. ^ "Glossary : Buttress". www.lookingatbuildings.org.uk. http://www.lookingatbuildings.org.uk/glossary/glossary/B.html?no_cache=1&tx_contagged%5bpointer%5d=8. 
4. ^ Edward Wyatt. "CHURCH ARCHITECTURE : SPIRES AND BUTTRESSES". www.prestbury.net. http://www.prestbury.net/magazine/church_architecture/page05.htm. 

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: buttresses

Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Buttress.

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

Dansk (Danish)
n. - støttepille, stræbepille
v. tr. - støtte, afstive

Nederlands (Dutch)
steunbeer, stut(balk), onderstutten, onderbouwen

Français (French)
n. - (Archit) contrefort, éperon, arc-boutant, (fig) soutien, pilier, appui
v. tr. - (Archit) arc-bouter, soutenir, étayer, (fig) soutenir (un argument)

Deutsch (German)
n. - Mauerstrebe, Strebepfeiler
v. - abstützen, stützen

Ελληνική (Greek)
v. - στυλώνω (με αντέρεισμα ή αντηρίδες), αντιστηρίζω, αντιτειχίζω, (μτφ.) στηρίζω, υποστηρίζω
n. - αντηρίδα, αντέρεισμα, αντιστήριγμα, αντιτείχισμα, (μτφ.) στυλοβάτης, στήριγμα

Italiano (Italian)
appuntellare, contrafforte, appoggio

Português (Portuguese)
v. - reforçar com contraforte
n. - contraforte (m)

Русский (Russian)
подпирать, укреплять, контрфорс, подпорка

Español (Spanish)
n. - contrafuerte
v. tr. - apuntalar

Svenska (Swedish)
v. - stödja, förse med strävpelare
n. - strävpelare, stöd

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
拱壁, 支持物, 扶壁, 用扶壁支撑, 扶持

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 拱壁, 支援物, 扶壁
v. tr. - 用扶壁支撐, 扶持

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 버팀[벽], 지지
v. tr. - ~을 버팀벽으로 받치다, 지지하다

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 控え壁, 支持するもの
v. - 控え壁で支持する, 支持する, 控え壁でささえる

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(فعل) دعم, سند, عزز, أيد, عاضد (الاسم) ركيزة, دعامه, مسند‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮מישען, תומך, מתמך, שלוחת הר או גבעה‬
v. tr. - ‮תמך, חיזק‬

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