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Architecture vocabulary · Styles, History and Conservation

Arch

Meaning in architecture, with examples

/ɑːrtʃ/nounCore term

In architecture, arch means: A curved structure spanning an opening, built of wedge-shaped stones or bricks that press against each other and carry the load above down to the sides.

In Turkish: kemer

How it is used

Basic to masonry building and architectural history. Types include the round arch (Roman), the pointed arch (Gothic and Islamic) and the horseshoe arch. The central top stone is the keystone, and a row of arches on columns is an arcade.

Example sentences

  1. Pointed arches allowed Gothic builders to make taller openings.

  2. The old bridge has five stone arches.

Common collocations

  • pointed arch
  • round arch
  • stone arch
  • arched opening
  • keystone
  • domeA rounded roof shaped like half a sphere, built over a circular, square or polygonal space; a masonry dome spreads its weight outwards and downwards.
  • masonryConstruction made of separate units such as stone, brick or concrete blocks laid in mortar; also the units themselves as a building material.
  • GothicDescribing the European style of roughly the 12th to the 16th century, with pointed arches, ribbed vaults, flying buttresses and large stained-glass windows.
  • lintelA horizontal beam of concrete, steel, stone or timber placed over a door or window opening to carry the wall above it.

More terms: Styles, History and Conservation

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