Plinthe

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A heavy square block or slab serving as the base that supports a column, statue, or pedestal ; the lower strip along the bottom of a wall or the base of a fitted fixture
2. The solid stone or wooden foundation beneath a column or statue ; the low projecting band at the foot of a wall or piece of furniture
3. A squared base that raises and steadies a column or sculpture ; the bottom section of a wall or cabinet that sits at floor level

Etymology: "Plinthe" is the French form of a word that English took from Greek. In Greek, "plinthos" meant a brick or tile, something flat and rectangular, and the Greek builders who used it were thinking of the shape rather than the material. The Romans borrowed it as "plinthus," and it came into English in the 16th century, when architects were writing about the classical orders of columns and needed a term for the square slab at the bottom of a column or pedestal. The English form "plinth" has had that architectural sense from the start, so "plinthe" appears mainly in French-influenced writing or in texts that deliberately keep the continental spelling. Its meaning has stayed close to the original: a flat, square base that the rest of a structure stands on, whether that is a column, a statue, or a piece of furniture.