Pilaster

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /pɪˈlastə/

Definitions

1. A slender support structure that is positioned against a wall and designed for both aesthetic appeal and load-bearing purposes
2. An architectural feature that typically mimics a column and is embedded in a wall to provide visual interest and reinforcement
3. A vertical element resembling a flattened column attached to a wall, often used to articulate or decorate the surface while sometimes bearing structural loads

Etymology: A pilaster is, in effect, a column that has been flattened against a wall. It projects only slightly from the surface, keeping the shape of a column (base, shaft and capital) while giving up its third dimension. The word reached English from Middle French "pilastre", which in turn came from Italian "pilastro", a term that belongs to the same family as "pillar". That family connection is the key to the word's making. "Pilastro" is built from "pilastro"'s root "pilo" (a pillar, from Latin "pila", a pier or column), plus a suffix "-astro" that in Italian marks something resembling or only partly being the thing named. Read this way, a pilaster is a "half-pillar" or false pillar: a column that looks like it supports a load but is really decoration fixed to the wall.

Synonyms: column, pillar, support, post, stanchion