spandrel

span·drel also span·dril  (spndrl) n. 1. The roughly triangular space between the left or right exterior curve of an arch and the rectangular framework surrounding it. 2. The space between two arches and a horizontal molding or cornice above them. [Middle English spaundrell, probably from spandre, space between supporting timbers, from Anglo-Norman spaundre, from spandre, to spread out, from Latin expandere; see expand.]

spandrel

---

spandrel, spandril [ˈspændrəl]

n Architect

1. (Fine Arts & Visual Arts / Architecture) an approximately triangular surface bounded by the outer curve of an arch and the adjacent wall

2. (Fine Arts & Visual Arts / Architecture) the surface area between two adjacent arches and the horizontal cornice above them

[C15 spaundrell, from Anglo-French spaundre spandrel, from Old French spandre to spread, expand]

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

spandrel - an approximately triangular surface area between two adjacent arches and the horizontal plane above them spandril surface - the outer boundary of an artifact or a material layer constituting or resembling such a boundary; "there is a special cleaner for these surfaces"; "the cloth had a pattern of red dots on a white surface" architecture - the discipline dealing with the principles of design and construction and ornamentation of fine buildings; "architecture and eloquence are mixed arts whose end is sometimes beauty and sometimes use"