Glossary of Church Architectural Terms

Notre-Dame de Paris (Photo Credit, Walter Matt)

Abacus: usually a square upper-most part of a capital.

Abbey: a church or chapel of a monastery.

Aisle: the side of a nave separated from the nave proper by a colonnade.

Ambulatory: passageway around the choir, often a continuation of the side aisles of the nave.

Apse: a semi-circular or polygonal vaulted space behind the altar.

Apsidiole: small apse-like chapel.

Arcade: a series of arches carried on piers or columns.

Barrel vault: semi-cylindrical vault with parallel abutments and of constant cross sections.

Basilica: (1), a rectangular building with a central nave, side aisles separated by colonnades, with or without a transept, (2) Roman Catholic Church that has been accorded certain privileges by the pope.

Bay: a vaulted division of a nave, aisle, choir or transept along its longitudinal axis.

Blind (arch, arcade): an arch or arcade with no openings, usually as decoration on a wall.

Boss: a projecting stone at the intersection of ribs, frequently elaborately carved. Its function is to provide a net intersection of the ribs and tie them into one unit.

Buttress: a masonry member projecting from a wall, rising from the ground, and counteracting the outward thrust of the roof or vaulting. In Gothic architecture, a flying buttress is a freestanding element connected by an arch to the outer wall.

Canopy: a protective roof above statues

Campanile: term only applied to a bell tower which is detached from a church..

Capital: the head of a column.

Cathedral: the chief church of a Diocese (Roman Catholic or Episcopal) which contains the Cathedra, the seat of the Bishop.

Chancel: interchangeable with choir, sometimes the area in front the altar.

Chevet: an apse, typically the ambulatory and radiating chapels.

Choir: area at the end of the nave which is reserved for clergy or monks (modern: singers), and which contains the altar and choir stalls.

Choir stalls: the row of stepped seats on either side of the choir, facing inwards.

Cinquefoil: a figure of five equal segments.

Clerestory: the exterior wall of a nave above the level of the aisles with windows.

Cloister: quadrilateral enclosure surrounded by covered walkways, the center of activity for the inhabitants of a monastery.

Close: the area on which the cathedral and subordinate building stand.

Columbarium: a structure of vaults lined with recesses for urns.

Concha: semi-circular niche with a semi-dome.

Corbel or Console: ornamental bracket that projects from the wall.

Crocket: an ornament consisting of a projecting piece of sculptured stone or wood. Used to decorate the sloping ridges of gablets, spires, and pinnacles. Usually carved as foliage.

Crossing: the area of a church where the nave is intersected by the transept.

Crypt: underground chamber beneath the altar in a church, usually containing a saint’s relics. It sometimes extends as far as the crossing, so that the choir and altar are sometimes considerably higher than the nave and aisle.

Engaged column: a column embedded in a wall, not free standing.

Finial: the topmost portion of a pinnacle, usually sculptured as an elaborate ornament with upright stem and cluster of crockets; seen at a distance, it resembles a cross from any angle of vision.

Galilee: a chapel or porch at the entrance to a church

Gargoyle: a pierced or tunneled stone projecting from a gutter and intended to carry rain away from wall and foundations. It is usually carved into the image of a beast or ugly creature.

Gallery: an upper story, running along the side of a church, open on one side to the interior.

Groin vault: type of vaulting caused by two equally large barrel vaults crossing at right angles; the angle formed by the intersecting vaults is the groin.

Intrados: the inner face of an arch or vault.

Lady chapel: a chapel dedicated to the Virgin Mary.

Lancet: a pointed arched window of one opening frequently arranged in groups of two to five.

Lantern tower: a tower with windows shedding light into the crossing.

Lunette: a semi-circular space above doors and windows, sometimes framed and decorated.

Misericord: In the choir stalls of medieval church, a bracket (often grotesquely or humorously carved) beneath a hinged seat which, when the seat was tipped up, gave some support to a person standing during a lengthy service.

Narthex: the single-story porch of a church

Nave: the area of a church between the façade and crossing or choir, specifically, the central area between the aisles.

Niche: a recess in the face of a wall or pier, prepared to receive a statue.

Oculus: a small circular opening admitting light at the top of a dome.

Pier: a mass of masonry supporting an arch or vault and distinct from a column, A clustered pier is composed of a number of small columns.

Pinnacle: a turret tapering upward to the top, its gracefulness enhanced by crockets and top stone called a finial.

Pulpitum: a screen dividing the choir from the nave. Often called Rood Screen.

Predella: the step or platform on which an altar is placed.

Portal: a major entrance to church, emphasized by sculpture and decoration.

Quatrefoil: a figure used in window tracery, shaped to form a cross or four equal segments of a circle.

Radiating chapels: chapels leading off from the ambulatory, and arranged in a semi-circular fashion.

Reredos: the wall or screen at the back of an altar, either in carved stone, wood or metal.

Retrochoir: in some cathedrals, the portion of the chancel behind the high altar at the extreme east end.

Respond: long narrow column or engaged column, mainly in Gothic architecture, which supports the arches and ribs of groin vaults or the profiles of arcade arches.

Reliquary: a casket containing one or more relics.

Rib: a structural molding of a vault.

Rood Beam: a large beam set transversely across a church from north to south on which stands a crucifix.

Rood screen: the screen dividing the choir from the nave.

Rose Window: a round window, with tracery dividing it into sections, called petals.

Sanctuary: the part of the church which contains the high altar.

Sedilla: seats in the sanctuary near the altar, usually three in number for clergy.

Shaft: the main part of a column, from its base to its capital.

Spandrel: the triangular space between the outer curve of an arch and an enclosing frame of mouldings, often richly carved with foliage.

Tracery: a term for the variations of mullions in Gothic windows and for geometric systems on wall panels and doors.

Transept: section of a church a right angles to the nave and in front of the choir.

Trefoil: either a carved three-leaved ornament, or a three lobed opening in tracery.

Triforium: space below the clerestory.

Triptych: a picture, design or carving on three panels, often an altar piece.

Tympanum: the area above a portal (door) enclosed by an arch, and the most important site for sculpture on the exterior of the church.

Vault: the ceiling of a church formed of concrete, stone in mortar or brick in mortar forming a continuous semicircular or pointed arch.

Vesica: an aureole or pointed oval shape, surrounding a sacred image.

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This glossary was found at Cathedral Quest: http://www.cathedralquest.com/GLOSSARY.htm