Accumen Terminology

Accumen
Sharpness of mind; the ability to judge well.

Aedicule
An opening in a wall, such as a window or a niche, framed by columns or pilasters and sometimes surmounted by a pediment (from Latin, “little temple”).

Architrave
The moulded frame surrounding a door or window.

Keystone
A wedge-shaped stone in the crown of an arch or in the centre of a lintel that locks the structure.

Bangle
A fine detail surrounding a column just below the capital.

Base
The bottom feature of a column.

Capital
The crowning feature of a column.

Cill
A moulding fixed horizontally at the base of a window or door (also spelt “sill”).

Column
A vertical shaft with moulded base and capital.

Corbels
Supporting members projecting from the face of a wall, usually found under an eave or large cornice detail.

Cornice
A decorative feature found under the eaves of a roof, or at the join between walls and ceiling in a room.

Dado
The lower part of an interior or exterior wall.

Dentils
A series of small rectangular, tooth-like blocks spaced in a band to decorate a cornice.

Eaves
The underside of a projecting roof.

Fluting
Concave, vertical grooves in the surface of a column.

Lintel
The horizontal top piece of a window or door opening, requiring strength to support the wall above it.

Parapet
A cornice-type detail fixed to the outside of a wall as an alternative to an eave.

Pediment
A decorative feature, usually triangular but often segmental, found on gable ends and above porticoes, doors, windows or aedicules. The upper part of the pediment is formed by a cornice moulding. Some pediments are split to receive an ornament or finial in the centre, and the open ends of split pediments may terminate in a scrolled block.

Pilaster
A rectangular column with a capital and base, projecting only slightly from a wall as an ornamental motif.

Quoin
A squared moulding at the corner of a building or other architectural feature. Quoins are usually staggered so that on any elevation you see alternating headers and stretchers.

Volute
A spiral, scroll-like ornament found on Ionic capitals and some brackets. It is thought that the Ionic capital was originally inspired by the head and horns of a ram.