Definitions

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

  • noun The immediate foundation of a row of classical columns.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun In architecture, a continuous basement upon which columns are placed to raise them above the level of the ground or a floor; particularly, the uppermost step of the stereobate of a columnar building, upon which rests an entire range of columns.

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

  • noun (Arch.) The uninterrupted and continuous flat band, coping, or pavement upon which the bases of a row of columns are supported. See sub-base.

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

  • noun The top step of the crepidoma, i.e. the platform upon which the superstructure of the building is erected.

Etymologies

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

[Latin stȳlobata, from Greek stūlobatēs : stūlos, pillar; see stā- in Indo-European roots + bainein, to walk; see gwā- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin stylobata, from Ancient Greek στυλοβάτης, from στῦλος (stūlos, "pillar") + βαίνειν ("to go, to walk").

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word stylobate.

Examples

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • ex) The floor of the Parthenon

    The temple, wrote John Julius Norwich, "Enjoys the reputation of being the most perfect Doric temple ever built. Even in antiquity, its architectural refinements were legendary, especially the subtle correspondence between the curvature of the stylobate, the taper of the naos walls and the entasis of the columns."

    May 27, 2008