spire

views updated May 23 2018

spire. Tall structure, circular, polygonal, or square on plan, rising from a roof, tower, etc., terminating in a slender point, especially the tapering part of a church-steeple. Often of stone, and occasionally of brick, it was also built as a timber-framed structure clad with copper, lead, shingles, slates, tiles, or thin stone slabs. If square, a spire rises directly from the tower, but octagonal spires required the top of the tower not covered to be occupied by pinnacles or by an arrangement (broach) forming a transition between the square and octagon resembling part of a pyramid and sloping towards the spire (broach-spire (a) ). Other types of spire include:crown spire: spire carried on buttress-like elements, i.e. with the structure fully exposed, resembling the arched forms at the top of a crown (b);Hertfordshire spike: small needle-spire rising from a tower behind a parapet;needle-spire: very tall slender spire rising from a tower behind a parapet, like a Hertfordshire spike but much bigger, taller, and finer (c);spike: short spire, flèche, or spirelet;splay-foot: spire with a base opening out at a flatter pitch and forming eaves over the tower.

Bibliography

Gwilt (1903);
W. Papworth (1887);
J. Parker (1850);
Sturgis et al. (1901–2)

A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture JAMES STEVENS CURL

spire

views updated May 23 2018

spire¹ / spī(ə)r/ • n. a tapering conical or pyramidal structure on the top of a building, typically a church tower. ∎ the continuation of a tree trunk above the point where branching begins, esp. in a tree of a tapering form. ∎ a long tapering object: spires of delphiniums.DERIVATIVES: spired adj.spir·y adj.spire² • n. Zool. the upper tapering part of the spiral shell of a gastropod mollusk, comprising all but the whorl containing the body.

The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English

spire

views updated May 08 2018

spire In the shell of a gastropod (Gastropoda), all the whorls other than the body whorl.

A Dictionary of Earth Sciences AILSA ALLABY and MICHAEL ALLABY

spire

views updated May 18 2018

spire1 †stalk, stem OE.; (dial.) reeds XIII; shoot, sprout XIV; tapering portion of a steeple XVI (earlier sphere XV). OE. spīr = MLG., MDu. spier, spīr, MHG. spīr (G. spier tip of blade of grass).

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

spire

views updated May 21 2018

spire2 coil, spiral. XVI. — F. -L. spīra — Gr. speîra coil, winding
.

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

spire

views updated May 11 2018

spire A young timber tree, the lowest branch of which is at a considerable height.

A Dictionary of Ecology MICHAEL ALLABY

spire

views updated May 21 2018

spire A young timber tree, the lowest branch of which is at a considerable height.

A Dictionary of Plant Sciences MICHAEL ALLABY

SPIRE

views updated Jun 11 2018

SPIRE (spaɪə) Navigation spatial inertial reference equipment

The Oxford Dictionary of Abbreviations FRAN ALEXANDER , PETER BLAIR , JOHN DAINTITH , ALICE GRANDISON , VALERIE ILLINGWORTH , ELIZABETH MARTIN , ANNE STIBBS , JUDY PEARSALL , and SARA TULLOCH