The Digital Piranesi

Glossary

Below are a brief list of architectural terms used in the essays contained in these pages and a longer list of Italian terms Piranesi uses that can be difficult to translate. 

For common abbreviations throughout his works, see the page here.


Architectural terms

Cross-section - [see Section]

Elevation - a method of architectural representation that shows a structure from one side (Ital: elevazione)

Poche - Poche walls are dark or black areas in an architectural plan that can denote uninhabitable space (such as the interior space of a wall) or, as is often the case for Piranesi, extant rather than conjectured structures

Spolia - Stones or architectural fragments removed from their original context and repurposed in a new structure for decorative or construction purposes


Section - a method of architectural representation that shows a structure as if it has been cut vertically in order to depict volume and building materials (Ital: spaccato)

Italian terms
A
Abitazione - housing

Acquedotto - aqueduct (also simply referred to as 'Acqua') 

Ambulacro - ambulatory, in a cathedral the processional space at the far end of the church behind the altar and choir

Arcadia, Arcadi - Accademia dell'Arcadia, members called 'Arcadi', prestigious and well known Academy of literature and philosophy in Rome of which Piranesi was a member, considerable importance in Roman culture in 18th c., prominent intellectuals include Muratori, Gravina, Crescimbeni, founded by Queen Christina of Sweden

Arco, Archi - arches

Architrave - architrave, part below the tympanum (the triangular part above the columns in the pantheon for ex.) 

Arcuazione -  arcuation, the way in which a series of arches are built

Argine - bank, embankment, dam

Attico - attic (order of architecture), or lower wall above the cornice in classical buildings

Avanzi - remains, ruins 

Aja -  barnyard, farmyard, threshing floor 

B
Baloardo – bastion, rampart

Barbacani – barbicans, fortified towers

Bassirilievi - bas-reliefs

Bozza – boss, projecting stone, keystone 

Braccio, braccia pl. - literally 'arm', unit of measurement in early modern Italy

C
Capitello, capitelli pl. - capital of a column

Capriccio - caprice, fancy


Casa - house

Cavi  - excavations or ropes, cables

Chiesa - church

Circo - circus 

Circonferenza - circumference, perimeter

Cloaca - sewer, outlets that formed the ancient roman sewage system

Collegio - kind of academy/college usually in monastic orders, the collegio romano was a jesuit institution that had a large museum of antiquities for ex.

Colonna - column

Cordonata - ramp, staircase 


Cuneo - Voussoir, a wedge-shaped element, typically a stone, which is used in building an arch or vault

F
Fabbrica - building, structure

Fenili - spaces where hay was stored, in modern Italian 'fienili' 

Festoni - festoons

Finestra, finestre - Window, windows

Forami - type of hole or opening

Forfice – term used by Vitruvius, now called forbice, tool used to lift or wedge 

Fornice - opening of an arch usually a passageway (the arch in the arch of Titus for ex.)

Foro - Forum

Fontana - fountain

Fregio - frieze 

Frontespizio - usually refers to the pediment, but can refer to the frontal part of architectural surface, usually part of a facade, or entire facade (also called facciata), used for first page in a book as well

G
Galleria - gallery (of paintings, statues) 

Granito - granite

Grottesco/grotteschi - decorative style of masks and other vegetal forms used to decorate ancient Roman buildings, popular in early modern period, literally 'grotesques' 

I
Incisione - engraving, print

Insigne - famous, renown

Iscrizione - inscription


L
Lago - lake

M
Macigni - large blocks of stone, boulders

Maestà - majesty

Magazzeno - shop, store, storehouse, warehouse, shed, depot

Magnificenza - magnificence 

Marmo - marble

Monte - mountain, hill

Mosaici, musaici - Mosaics

Mura (pl.) - city walls

Muro - wall

N

Nicchia - niche

Nicchione - large niche

O
Orto - garden

oggidì (sometimes 'in oggi') - today, currently, nowadays, in present times

P
Palmo, palmi (pl.) - unit of measurement 

Peperino, peperini - type of grey marble common in Rome

Peristilo - peristyle, a colonnade surrounding a building or court, an open space enclosed by a colonnade

Perni - pivot, joint, adjoining architectural element

Pianta - map, architectural plan, perspective is typically from above

Piazza - city square 

Piedistallo - pedestal

Pila - pier, pilaster

Pilastri, pilastrelli - pilasters

Ponte - bridge

Profilo - cross section, side view, contour of an object

Pronao - pronaos or vestibule made of columns before the entrance proper to a building (the pantheon is a good example) 

R
Ripa - bank (along a river) 

Risarcimento - restoration, repair, rebuilt


Ristaurato - restored, rebuilt

Restituire - to restore, rebuild

Rostro - Latin Rostra, plural, a platform for speakers in the Roman Forum decorated with the beaks of captured ships, from plural of rostrum, an ancient Roman platform for public orators, the curved end of a ship's prow

S
Scarpellino – small chisel

Scavare - to excavate


Sedile - seat, seating (of a theater usually), chair, cradle

Sepolcro - sepulcher, tomb  

Spaccato - section, cross section, plan

Speco - cavern, canal

Stadio - stadium, also a unit of measurement used in early Italian texts, most commonly texts of geography ie Ptolemy 

Stampa - print 

Stipiti - jambs

Stucco - type of plaster used typically in ornament or decoration 

T
Tazza - pool, fountain

Tegoloni - curved tiles, roof tiles specifically, tegula in latin, made of clay traditionally, marble, bronze, gilt, sometimes had insignia used for dating of sites 

Tempio - Temple

Terme - Baths

Tepidario - tepidarium, warm room of the ancient Roman thermae used to sit in

Tevolozza - tile, type of brick 

Timpano/Tympano - tympanum 

Travertino, Travertini - travertines, blocks of stone

Triclinio - triclinium in Latin, a couch extending around three sides of a table used by the ancient Romans for reclining at meals, more commonly refers to a dining room in ancient Roman houses

V
Vasca - pool, fountain

Vestigie - ruins, literally 'vestiges' 

Vicino - near, close by

Vigna - vineyard 

 

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