cupola

views updated May 18 2018

cupola.
1. Bowl-shaped vault on a circular, elliptical, or polygonal plan.

2. Underside or soffit of a dome.

3. Bowl-shaped element carried on columns set as a canopy over a tomb, etc., or a ciborium.

4. Small dome on the lantern over the eye of a large dome, or the dome plus lantern, or any diminutive domed form, visible above a roof.

5. Revolving dome of an observatory, or an armoured revolving dome over the guns of a fortress.

A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture JAMES STEVENS CURL

cupola

views updated Jun 08 2018

cu·po·la / ˈkyoōpələ/ • n. a small dome, esp. a small dome on a drum on top of a larger dome, adorning a roof or ceiling. ∎ a gun turret; a small domed hatch above a gun turret on some tanks. ∎ (also cupola furnace) a cylindrical furnace for refining metals.DERIVATIVES: cu·po·laed adj.

The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English

cupola

views updated May 08 2018

cupola A small, dome-shaped, satellite intrusion (see INTRUSIVE) projecting upwards from the main body of a larger intrusion or batholith.

A Dictionary of Earth Sciences AILSA ALLABY and MICHAEL ALLABY

cupola

views updated Jun 08 2018

cupola rounded dome XVI; furnace for melting metals, orig. with a dome leading to the chimney XVIII. — It. — late L. cūpula little cask, small burying-vault, dim. of cūpa (see CUP).

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology T. F. HOAD