English edit

 
Voussoirs forming a stable arch; there are special terms for the voussoirs at the base of the arch and for the (usually single) voussoir at the top centre

Etymology edit

Unadapted borrowing from French voussoir, from Old French vosoir, from Vulgar Latin *volsorium, from *volsus, from Latin volvō (I roll).

Pronunciation edit

Noun edit

voussoir (plural voussoirs)

  1. (architecture) One of a series of wedge-shaped bricks or stones forming an arch or vault. [from 1728]
    • 1977, Jaques Heyman, Equilibrium of Shell Structures, Clarendon Press, Oxford, page 2:
      It is the voussoir depth in a real arch which enables the arch to carry wider ranges of loading; a large number of different idealized centre-line arches can be contained within a given practical profile. ...[T]his must be so, or no mediaeval bridge would have survived its decentering.
    • 2020 May 20, Philip Haigh, “Ribblehead: at the heart of the S&C's survival and its revival: Ribblehead Viaduct repairs”, in Rail, page 26:
      Other areas have mortar joints missing, including between the voussoir blocks forming the edge of the arches on either side of the pier.

Derived terms edit

Translations edit

Further reading edit

French edit

Etymology edit

Inherited from Old French vosoir, from Vulgar Latin *volsorium, from *volsus, from Latin volvō (to roll).

Pronunciation edit

Noun edit

voussoir m (plural voussoirs)

  1. (architecture) voussoir

Further reading edit