Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A rail and the row of balusters or posts that support it, as along the front of a gallery.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun In architecture, strictly, a barrier or railing consisting of a horizontal member resting on a series of balusters; but, commonly, an ornamental railing or pierced parapet of any kind, whether serving as a barrier or merely as a decorative feature, and whether composed of balusters or not.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Arch.) A row of balusters topped by a rail, serving as an open parapet, as along the edge of a balcony, terrace, bridge, or the eaves of a building, or as a guard railing on a staircase; -- it serves as a guard to prevent people from falling.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun architecture A row of balusters topped by a rail, serving as an open parapet, as along the edge of a balcony, terrace, bridge, staircase, or the eaves of a building.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a railing at the side of a staircase or balcony to prevent people from falling

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[French, from Italian balaustrata, from balaustro, baluster; see baluster.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From French balustrade, from Italian balaustrata ("with balusters"), from balaustro ("baluster"), from balausta ("wild pomegranate flower"), via Latin balaustium, from Ancient Greek βαλαύστιον (balaustion), from Semitic (compare Aramaic balatz 'wild pomegranate flower'). So named because of resemblance to the swelling form of the half-open pomegranate flower. Also see baluster.

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Examples

  • The swinging balustrade is transmitted through their arm directly into into the inner ear.

    Archive 2008-07-01 Red 2008

  • The two-storey Casa Griesen with its balustrade is closer to Avenida Juarez.

    Chihuahua City, Pancho Villa and Parral de Hidalgo 2008

  • The two-storey Casa Griesen with its balustrade is closer to Avenida Juarez.

    Chihuahua City, Pancho Villa and Parral de Hidalgo 2008

  • The swinging balustrade is transmitted through their arm directly into into the inner ear.

    Touched Echo Red 2008

  • The two-storey Casa Griesen with its balustrade is closer to Avenida Juarez.

    Chihuahua City, Pancho Villa and Parral de Hidalgo 2008

  • Felix Page's _left_ side had been toward the balustrade at the instant Fluette snatched up the candle-stick; on the balustrade was a deep indentation where the base of the improvised weapon had impinged, after glancing; and the fatal blow had struck upon the victim's _right_ temple.

    The Paternoster Ruby Charles Edmonds Walk

  • “Titianus F.,” on the stone balustrade, which is one of the most Giorgionesque elements of the portrait, is disquieting, and most probably a later addition.

    The Earlier Work of Titian Phillips, Claude 1897

  • The sprite in the centre of the balustrade is the most winsome of the company.

    Correggio A Collection Of Fifteen Pictures And A Portrait Of The Painter With Introduction And Interpretation 1489-1534 [Illustrator] Correggio 1893

  • The one with the rug on the balustrade was the most distant; next to it was the empty bungalow; the nearest, with the flower-beds at the foot of its veranda, contained that bothersome girl, who had managed so provokingly to keep herself invisible.

    Victory Joseph Conrad 1890

  • The roofs are peculiar, being in the form of well-constructed semicircular arches, all of mud, and in many cases the tops of the outside walls are adorned by a kind of balustrade of open brickwork.

    Peeps at Many Lands: Egypt R. Talbot Kelly 1897

Comments

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  • And I am nothing of a builder

    But here I dreamt I was an architect

    And I built this balustrade

    To keep you home, to keep you safe

    From the outside world

    December 2, 2006

  • MISS GIDDENS

    That can't be true? Not ten minutes ago I saw - I thought I saw - a man.

    (She moves towards the tower's balustrade)

    He was standing exactly here.

    MILES

    (rising and joining her at the balustrade)

    Perhaps it was me.

    May 19, 2008

  • Ornamental parapet of posts and railings.

    August 24, 2008