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Slight curve in the shaft of a column
Answer for the clue "Slight curve in the shaft of a column ", 7 letters:
entasis
Alternative clues for the word entasis
Word definitions for entasis in dictionaries
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Word definitions in The Collaborative International Dictionary
Entasis \En"ta*sis\, n. [NL., from Gr. ? a stretching; fr. ?; ? in + ? to extend.] (Arch.) A slight convex swelling of the shaft of a column. (Med.) Same as Entasia .
Wikipedia
Word definitions in Wikipedia
In architecture , entasis is the application of a convex curve to a surface for aesthetic purposes. Its best-known use is in certain orders of Classical columns that curve slightly as their diameter is decreased from the bottom upwards.
WordNet
Word definitions in WordNet
n. a slight convexity in the shaft of a column; compensates for the illusion of concavity that viewers experience when the sides are perfectly straight [also: entases (pl)]
Wiktionary
Word definitions in Wiktionary
n. (context architecture English) A slight convex curvature introduced into the shaft of a column for aesthetic reasons, or to compensate for the illusion of concavity.
Usage examples of entasis.
Time chafe away the memento mori quality that the ruins first seem to spell, acting as a temporal entasis and in the eye of the beholding.
The entasis of columns and curvature of what would ordinarily be straight lines is familiar to all students of architecture.
Everything about him was suddenly limned in an unnatural brightness, and the bole of the great tree was shrunken by a brilliant entasis that attacked from the north.