plinth

noun \ ˈplin(t)th \

Updated on: 15 Mar 2018

Definition of plinth

1 a : the lowest member of a base : subbase

b : a block upon which the moldings of an architrave or trim are stopped at the bottom

2 : a usually square block serving as a base; broadly : any of various bases or lower parts

3 : a course of stones forming a continuous foundation or base course

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Recent Examples of plinth from the Web

In a park in Budapest, Hungary, a grand stairway leads up to a kind of altar, atop which is a brick plinth.

— charles desmarais, San Francisco Chronicle, "Historic wrongs on a pedestal: Ugly past doesn’t vanish when the artwork does," 27 Feb. 2018
Three of her life-size headless figures on plinths, sited on smaller lawns around the park, will play off just such a woman in repose.

— hilarie m. sheets, New York Times, "Coming to Madison Square Park: Drippy Abstractions and Headless Figures," 8 Feb. 2018
The dresses are arranged on mannequins that stand on color-coordinating hexagonal plinths.

— nicole phelps, Vogue, "“Mary, Queen of Prints,” a Mary Katrantzou Exhibition, Opens at the Dallas Contemporary," 16 Jan. 2018
Whether at City Park, Jefferson Davis Boulevard or Lee Circle, the stone plinths that once housed monuments of Confederate icons now lift up only empty sky.

— pelican bomb, NOLA.com, "A new kind of monument rises in New Orleans: Prospect.4 works," 8 Jan. 2018
Revolutionaries often used the statue’s plinth for an orator’s platform, and crowds gathered here; photographs of that time show the square teeming with people.

— olga ingurazova, Smithsonian, "What Ever Happened to the Russian Revolution?," 29 Sep. 2017
For the past 75 years, a hulking bust of Napoleon has rested on a plinth in the Borough Hall of Madison, New Jersey.

— brigit katz, Smithsonian, "“Lost” Rodin Sculpture Discovered in New Jersey Borough Hall," 19 Oct. 2017
With many college administrators seemingly seeking an empty plinth for one of those Robert E. Lee statues coming down elsewhere, civil lawsuits may save free speech from becoming a lost cause.

— jay weiser, WSJ, "Campus Speech and Anti-Klan Laws," 1 Oct. 2017
The bronze plinth, erected in 1924, valorized a young soldier in the Southern army.

— katy waldman, Slate Magazine, "Donald Trump has a lot in common with the antiquated, racist Confederate statues he defends.," 15 Aug. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'plinth.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

plinth and Architecture

"These ivy-clad arcades — / These mouldering plinths ... are they all — / All of the famed, and the colossal left…?" In these lines from "The Coliseum," Edgar Allan Poe alludes to a practical feature of classical architecture. The plinth serves the important purpose of raising the base of the column it supports above the ground, thus protecting it from dampness and mold. The humble plinth is usually a mere thick block. It's humbly named, too, for the Greek word plinthos means simply "tile" or "brick." English writers have used plinth, a shortened version of the Latin form plinthus, since the mid-16th century. The word's meaning was later extended to bases for statues, vases, or busts.

Origin and Etymology of plinth

Latin plinthus, from Greek plinthos

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1563

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Other Architecture Terms

buttress, casita, cornice, fanlight, garret, lintel, parapet, pilaster

PLINTH Defined for English Language Learners

plinth

noun

Definition of plinth for English Language Learners

: a block of stone or wood that is used as the base for a pillar, statue, etc.

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Britannica English: Translation of plinth for Arabic speakers Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about plinth

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plinth

Definition of plinth

plinth was our Word of the Day on 08/27/2016. Hear the podcast!

Recent Examples of plinth from the Web

plinth and Architecture

Origin and Etymology of plinth

Other Architecture Terms

PLINTH Defined for English Language Learners

plinth

Definition of plinth for English Language Learners

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plinth was our Word of the Day on 08/27/2016. Hear the podcast!

Recent Examples of plinth from the Web

plinth and Architecture

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PLINTH Defined for English Language Learners

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