pediment
pronunciation
How to pronounce pediment in British English:
UK [ˈpedɪmənt]
How to pronounce pediment in American English:
US [ˈpɛdəmənt]
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- Noun:
- a triangular gable between a horizontal entablature and a sloping roof
Word Origin
- pediment
- pediment: see pyramid
- pediment (n.)
- triangular part of the facade of a Greek-style building, 1660s, alteration of periment, peremint (1590s), of unknown origin, "said to be a workmen's term" [OED]; probably a dialectal garbling of pyramid, the connection perhaps being the triangular shape. Sometimes associated with ped- "foot." Other possibilities include Latin pedamentum "vine-stalk, prop," and Italian pedamento, which at the time this word entered English meant "foundation, basework, footing." Meaning "base, foundation" is from 1726, by inflience of Latin pedem "foot."