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balustrade

UK/ˌbæl.əˈstɹeɪd/US/ˈbæl.ə.stɹeɪd/
nounC1Very rare — outside the 30,000 commonest English words, so you will meet it in writing rather than in speechmostly written

Other forms: balustrades

A balustrade is the row of small posts along the edge of a balcony. A stone balustrade.

Each post is a baluster, and the name comes from the shape of a pomegranate flower. A balustrade is a barrier as well as an ornament, which is why the spacing is regulated.

Whiteghost.ink · CC BY-SA 4.0

Definitions of balustrade

  1. 1nounbalustradeThe row of small posts along the edge of a balcony.C1

    “The balustrade along the terrace had lost about a third of its posts.”

balustrade is a barrier.

Where it comes from

Italian balaustrata comes from balaustro, a baluster, named from balausta, the wild pomegranate flower.

  1. Ancient Greek

    βαλαύστιον

  2. Latin

    balaustium

  3. Italian

    balaustrata — with balusters

  4. French

    balustrade

  5. English, today

    balustrade

Built from

  • balaustro · Italian — baluster
  • balausta · Italian — wild pomegranate flower

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

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in Buildings & Architecture

Practise this word

balustrade in the wild

  • There are some rare early English pews decorated with poppy heads, and a Jacobean communion rail with openwork balustrading.

    Radclive

  • There is a flight of eight steps with balustrade supporting two urns.

    Thorpe Hall (Peterborough)

  • The principal staircase has heavily carved foliated open panels to broad balustrade.

    Thorpe Hall (Peterborough)

  • A group of balusters supporting a guard railing, coping, or ornamental detail is known as a balustrade.

    Baluster

  • In the UK, there are different height requirements for domestic and commercial balustrades, as outlined in Approved Document K.

    Baluster

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.