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candelabrum

  (kăn'dl-ä'brəm, -ăb'rəm, -ā'brəm) pronunciation
candelabrum
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candelabrum
( School Division, Houghton Mifflin Company)
n., pl. -bra (-brə) or -brums.

A large decorative candlestick having several arms or branches.

[Latin candēlābrum, candlestick, from candēla, candle. See candle.]


 
 
Architecture: candelabrum


1. A movable candle lampstand with central shaft and, often, branches or a decorative representation thereof.
2. A lighting device designed as an architectural fixture, composed as in definition 1, above. Also see lamp post.


 
(kăn'dəlä'brəm) , primarily a support for candles, designed in the form of a turned baluster or a tapered column, also a branched candlestick or a lampstand. Though most used and developed during the Renaissance, the candelabrum originated in Etruria and Rome. Candelabra found in Etruscan and Pompeiian ruins are usually of bronze. From ancient Rome come the tall and monumental candelabra used in temples and public buildings. Of bronze or marble, they had triangular pedestals from which rose columnar shafts, finely sculptured and terminating at the top in a bowl used for holding illuminating oil and incense. With these as inspiration, Italian Renaissance artists produced superb candelabra in rich materials for altars, chapels, and processions. In that period the distinctive form of the candelabrum came also to be a ubiquitous decorative motive, used freely in architectural ornament, tapestry borders, stained-glass windows, and furniture. It was even converted (especially in Lombardy) into a definite architectural element, taking the place of a column or colonnette, as in windows of the Certosa at Pavia.

Bibliography

See F. W. Robins, The Story of the Lamp (and the Candle) (1939).


 
WordNet: candelabrum
Note: click on a word meaning below to see its connections and related words.

The noun has one meaning:

Meaning #1: branched candlestick; ornamental; has several lights
  Synonym: candelabra


 
 

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Copyrights:

Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2007. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Architecture. McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Architecture and Construction. Copyright © 2003 by McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
Columbia Encyclopedia. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2003, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/  Read more
WordNet. WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.  Read more

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