balustrade

See also: Balustrade

English

WOTD – 26 May 2009

A balustrade

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from French balustrade, from Italian balaustrata (“with balusters”), from balaustro (“baluster”), from balausta (“wild pomegranate flower”), via Latin balaustium, from Ancient Greek βαλαύστιον (balaústion), from Semitic, compare Classical Syriac ܒܠܳܨܳܐ (blāṣā, “pomegranate shoot”)). So named because of resemblance to the swelling form of the half-open pomegranate flower. Also see baluster.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˌbæl.əˈstɹeɪd/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈbæl.ə.stɹeɪd/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪd

Noun

balustrade (plural balustrades)

1. 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.
   • 1820, John Keats, “Isabella; or, The Pot of Basil. A Story from Boccaccio.”, in Lamia, Isabella, the Eve of St. Agnes, and Other Poems, London: […] [Thomas Davison] for Taylor and Hessey, […], →OCLC, stanza XXIII, page 60:

     So on a pleasant morning, as he leant / Into the sun-rise, o’er the balustrade [...]

   • 1956, Arthur C. Clarke, The City and the Stars, page 45:

     The Jester sat down on one of the marble balustrades and regarded Alvin with a curious intentness.

Hypernyms

• parapet

Related terms

• baluster

Translations

row of balusters

• Armenian: ճաղաշար (hy) (čaġašar)
• Belarusian: балюстра́да f (baljustráda)
• Bulgarian: балюстра́да (bg) f (baljustráda)
• Catalan: balustrada f
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 欄杆 (laan⁴ gon¹)

  Mandarin: 欄杆 (zh) (lángān)

• Czech: balustráda f
• Danish: balustrade
• Dutch: balustrade (nl) f
• Esperanto: balustrado
• Estonian: balustraad
• Finnish: balustradi
• French: balustrade (fr) f
• Georgian: ბალუსტრადა (balusṭrada)
• German: Balustrade (de) f
• Hungarian: mellvéd (hu), balusztrád (hu)
• Icelandic: brjóstrið n, súlnabrjóstrið n, handrið (is) n, rimlahandrið n, grindverk (is) n, rimlagirðing f
• Ido: balustrado (io)
• Indonesian: balustrade
• Irish: balastráid f
• Italian: balaustra (it) f, balaustrata (it) f, ringhiera (it) f
• Japanese: 手摺 (ja) (てすり, tesuri), 手すり (てすり, tesuri), 欄干 (ja) (らんかん, rankan)
• Korean: 난간 (ko) (nan'gan), 란간 (ran'gan) (North Korea)
• Norman: balustrade f (Jersey)
• Norwegian: balustrade (no)
• Ottoman Turkish: پرمقلق (parmaklık)
• Persian: دارابزین (dârâbzin)
• Polish: balustrada (pl) f
• Portuguese: balaustrada (pt) f
• Romanian: balustradă (ro) f
• Russian: балюстра́да (ru) f (baljustráda)
• Scottish Gaelic: stùc-shread f
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: о̏града f

  Roman: ȍgrada (sh) f

• Spanish: balaustrada (es) f
• Swedish: balustrad (sv)
• Tagalog: palababahan
• Turkish: tırabzan (tr), korkuluk (tr)
• Ukrainian: балюстра́да (uk) f (baljustráda)

Dutch

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from French balustrade, from Italian balaustrata.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌbaː.lyˈstraː.də/

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: ba‧lus‧tra‧de
• Rhymes: -aːdə

Noun

balustrade f (plural balustrades or balustraden, diminutive balustradetje n)

1. balustrade
2. (by extension) railing

   Synonym: reling

French

Etymology

Borrowed into Middle French from Italian balaustrata.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ba.lys.tʁad/

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

balustrade f (plural balustrades)

1. (architecture) balustrade [from 16th c.]

Descendants

• → English: balustrade
• → Russian: балюстрада (baljustrada)
  • → Georgian: ბალუსტრადა (balusṭrada)

Further reading

• “balustrade”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Indonesian

Etymology

From Dutch balustrade, from French balustrade, from Italian balaustrata.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [baluˈstradə]

Noun

balustrade (first-person possessive balustradeku, second-person possessive balustrademu, third-person possessive balustradenya)

1. (architecture) balustrade: 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.

   Synonym: pegangan

Norman

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

balustrade f (plural balustrades)

1. (Jersey, architecture) balustrade