Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

PILLAR (0. Fr. piler, Mod. pilier, La...

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V21, Page 610 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

See also:

PILLAR (0. Fr. piler, Mod. pilier, See also:Late See also:Lat. pilare, from pila, See also:column)  , an isolated upright structure, of narrow width in relation to its height, which is either employed as a support for a superincumbent load of some sort or is set up for commemorative or ornamental purposes . In the first sense the word has many See also:common applications, as to columns supporting the girders of awarehouse See also:floor or the deckbeams of a See also:ship, to the single central support or See also:pedestal of a table, See also:machine-See also:tool, &c., and to the masses of See also:coal which the miner leaves in certain methods of working as supports to the roof (see See also:Cord); it is also used figuratively of persons in such phrases as a " See also:pillar of the See also:state." In See also:architecture it has strictly the second sense . The See also:column erected in See also:honour of See also:Diocletian at See also:Alexandria is known as See also:Pompey's pillar, and the so-called columns of See also:Trajan and See also:Antoninus are in reality pillars, performing no structural See also:function beyond that of carrying a statue . In See also:India the only example is the See also:iron pillar at See also:Delhi, which is an extraordinary specimen of the iron-worker's See also:art considering the remote date at which it was made . Up to the See also:middle of the 19th See also:century the See also:term " pillar " was employed to designate the masses of See also:masonry in a See also:church, which carry the arcades, but now the term "See also:pier" is invariably adopted in preference .

End of Article: PILLAR (0. Fr. piler, Mod. pilier, Late Lat. pilare, from pila, column)
[back]
PILIBHIT
[next]
PILLAU

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click and select "copy." Paste it into a website, email, or other HTML document.