Monday Trivia, Architectural Term

If you squint

Lee Schierer McKean, PA

If you squint really hard you can see the answer.

Lee

Good.  Had to find a way to keep it alive.

Gary Smyth

Not so easy to know/remember. Later, where did you find it?

Re: Good.  Had to find a way to keep it alive. *LINK*

Lee Schierer McKean, PA

I had seen that style before, we studied some arch forms in school years ago. I also visited one of the most elaborate examples when we lived in Spain. I ran across the one diagram in your post here


here.

Monday answer.

Gary Smyth

Lee gets a gold star for his forehead.

Squinch (squinches) is (are) what the're called.

I thought the name unusual as it doesn't seem to be Mid Eastern or South Europe/North Africa from where many of the pictured examples seem to be located. If anyone has an Oxford English Dictionary and wants to check, I'd be interested in knowing the derivation.

Re: Monday answer.

Alex Y

No OED here, but Random House says:

Origin:

1490�1500; variant of scunch, short for scuncheon, Middle English sconch ( e ) on < Middle French escoinson, esconchon; see sconcheon

FR.  Never occured to me.  Thank you.