caryatid
English edit
Etymology edit
From Middle French cariatide, from Latin caryatides, from Ancient Greek Καρυάτιδες (Karuátides), plural of Καρυᾶτις (Karuâtis, “a priestess of Artemis, female figures used as bearing-shafts”), from καρυατίζω (karuatízō, “dance the Karyatid festival dance”) from Καρύαι (Karúai, “a town in Laconia with a temple of Artemis and a festival”).
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
caryatid (plural caryatids or caryatides)
- A sculpted female figure serving as an architectural support taking the place of a column or a pillar supporting an entablature on her head.
- 1901, Henry James, Flickerbridge:
- She wore on the top of her head an upright circular cap that made her resemble a caryatid disburdened, and on other parts of her person strange combinations of colours, stuffs, shapes, of metal, mineral and plant.
Coordinate terms edit
Translations edit
a sculpted female figure serving as an architectural element
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