plinth
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(plĭnth) 
n.
n.
- A block or slab on which a pedestal, column, or statue is placed.
- The base block at the intersection of the baseboard and the vertical trim around an opening.
- A continuous course of stones supporting a wall. Also called plinth course.
- A square base, as for a vase.
[French plinthe, from Latin plinthus, from Greek plinthos, tile, plinth.]
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Readers became curious about the word plinth — it's a base upon which a pedestal, statue or vase rests — because of the creation of a very futuristic piece of furniture:
"A young Dutch architect has created a floating bed which hovers above the ground through magnetic force and comes with a price tag of 1.2 million euros ($1.54 million).
"Janjaap Ruijssenaars took inspiration for the bed -- a sleek black platform, which took six years to develop and can double as a dining table or a plinth -- from the mysterious monolith in Stanley Kubrick's 1968 cult film '2001: A Space Odyssey.'"
Link: Designer creates floating bed - Yahoo! News
Posted August 9, 2006.
See our Word Overheard blog to see interesting uses of strange words. 
1. A square or rectangular base for column, pilaster, or door framing.
2. A solid monumental base, often ornamented with moldings, bas reliefs, or inscriptions, to support a statue or memorial.
3. A recognizable base of an external wall, or the base courses of a building collectively, if so treated as to give the appearance of a platform.
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[Co]
Projecting course at the foot of a wall or the stone base of an altar or similar ornamental or ceremonial structure.
Random House Word Menu:
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categories related to 'plinth'
- Classical Elements and Design - plinth: projecting block at base of building or column
See crossword solutions for the clue Wikipedia on Answers.com:
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Plinth
In architecture, a plinth is the base or platform upon which a column, pedestal, statue, monument or structure rests.[1] Gottfried Semper's The Four Elements of Architecture (1851) posited that the plinth, the hearth, the roof, and the wall make up all of architectural theory. The plinth usually rests directly on the ground, or "stylobate". According to Semper, the plinth exists to negotiate between a structure and the ground. Semper's theory has been influential in the development of architecture.[2]
Many houses in flood-prone rural areas of Bangladesh are built on plinths ("homestead plinths").
The word is also used for the base of a cabinet or an audio turntable.[citation needed]
In dam engineering, the "plinth" is the link between the ground and the dam. For the case of arch dams, the term is changed to "pulvino".
See also
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Look up plinth in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |
References
- ^ Poppeliers, John C. (1983). What Style is it?. New York: John Wiley & Sons. pp. 104. ISBN 0-471-14434-7.
- ^ Mallgrave, Harry Francis. Modern Architectural Theory: A Historical Survey, 1673-1968 (Cambridge, 2005). ISBN 0-521-79306-8
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This architectural element-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
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Translations:
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Plinth
Dansk (Danish)
n. - plint, sokkel
Nederlands (Dutch)
voetstuk, sokkel, basis van een kolom
Français (French)
n. - (Archit) plinthe, socle
Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - (αρχιτ.) πλίνθος, πλιθί
Italiano (Italian)
piedistallo, base, plinto
Português (Portuguese)
n. - plinto (m)
Русский (Russian)
цоколь, постамент, плинтус
Svenska (Swedish)
n. - plint, sockel
中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
柱基, 方形底座
中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 柱基, 方形底座
한국어 (Korean)
n. - 토대, (원기둥의) 방형대화
العربيه (Arabic)
(الاسم) قاعدة مربعه يرتكز عليها العمود أو التمثال
עברית (Hebrew)
n. - בסיס-עמוד, אדן, בסיס לפסל או לאגרטל
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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Architecture & Construction
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Architecture and Construction. Copyright © 2003 by McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
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