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An obelisk is a stone pillar having a square or rectangular cross section and sides that taper towards a pyramidal top. They were often used as monuments in ancient Egypt, where they symbolised the supreme god. They were known as Pharaoh's needles by the Arabs, and fingers of the sun by the Egyptians. The first recorded obelisk was described during the reign of Rameses II about 1322 BC, but the Romans also took to them, emperor Augustus erecting one in the Campus Martius on the base of which was a sundial. Cleopatra's Needle on the Thames Embankment in London is an example of an Egyptian obelisk.
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In architecture an oblique arch is an arch whose jambs are not at right angles with the face, and whose intrados is in consequence askew.
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The octagon pot was a popular style of British clay chimney pot. Simple in design, but eight-sided so as to be more decorative than the plain round styles of chimney pot.
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In architecture the term octostyle describes a temple or portico having eight columns in the front. The Parthenon is octostyle, but most large Greek temples are hexastyle.
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In architecture an oculus is a round window, usually a small one.
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In architecture an ogee is a moulding, the section of which is the form of the letter S, with the convex part above. The term is also applied to any similar figure used for any purpose.
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In architecture an ogee arch is a pointed arch, each of the sides of which has the curve of an ogee, that is, has a reversed curve near the apex.
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An ogee pot is a common form of plain, curved chimney pot, usually about 60 cm tall and with a 30 cm base.
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In architecture an ogive is the arch or rib which crosses a Gothic vault diagonally.
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Oiling in is a process in decorating which is carried out after a surface has been filled and levelled. The surface is thoroughly rubbed down and allowed to dry before a thin coat of varnish and turpentine is applied and allowed to dry. Oiling in seals the porosity of the filler, allowing for uniform paint to be applied.
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In architecture an oillet is a small opening or loophole, sometimes circular, used in mediaeval fortifications from which defenders would shoot arrows at besiegers (see also arbalestena). The term is also used to describe a small circular opening, and ring of mouldings surrounding it, used in window tracery in Gothic architecture.
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A one stroke is a signwriter's sable hair, flat, chisel-edged brush set in a metal ferrule, the length of the exposed hairs being shorter than those in normal signwriting brushes, and the width of the brush usually greater.
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In architecture an open-timber roof is a roof of which the constructional parts, together with the under side of the covering, or its lining, are treated ornamentally, and left to form the ceiling of an apartment below, as in a church, a public hall, and the like.
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In architecture an opisthodome is a back chamber; especially, that part of the naos, or cella, farthest from the main entrance, sometimes having an entrance of its own, and often used as a treasury.
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Opus incertum is a kind of ancient masonry employed in building walls, in which the stones were not squared nor laid in courses, similar to rubblework.
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In architecture, orb is a former term for a blank window or panel.
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In architecture an order is the disposition of a column and its component parts, and of the entablature resting upon it and hence a style or manner of architectural designing. The Greeks used three different orders, easy to distinguish, Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian. The Romans added the Tuscan, and changed the Doric so that it is hardly recognizable, and also used a modified Corinthian called Composite. The Renaissance writers on architecture recognized five orders as orthodox or classical, - Doric (the Roman sort), Ionic, Tuscan, Corinthian, and Composite.
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In architecture, an oriel is a porch or balcony at the head of an outdoor staircase.
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In architecture, an oriel window is a window projecting from the outer face of a wall, in plan semi- hexagonal, semi-octagonal, or rectangular, thus having three or more sides, divided by mullions and transoms into different bays and other projections, and supported by brackets or corbels. A projecting window rising from the ground is sometimes called an oriel window, but is more properly a bay window.
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An Orthograph is an orthographic projection, sometimes partly in section, of a building.
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A outrigger is the horizontal tubes projecting from the face of a building to which are attached the pulley blocks from which a cradle is suspended.
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In architecture the outside finish is a term for the minor parts, such as corner boards, hanging stiles, etc., required to complete the exterior of a wooden building.
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In architecture, an overthrow is a decorative panel or architrave of ornamental metalwork, usually of wrought iron, found above a gateway or arch.
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In architecture an ovolo is a round, convex moulding. In Roman work it is usually a quarter circle in section; in Greek work it is flatter, and is equivalent to the echinus; that is, it has in section the elastic curve of the shell of the sea urchin. In mediaeval architecture it is not distinguishable from the multitude of convex mouldings, of all sections, which are used.
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In architecture an ovum is one of the series of egg-shaped ornaments into which the ovolo is often carved.
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An ox hair blender is a flat, chisel-ended brush set in a metal ferrule at the end of a very long slender handle. The hair is short and the brush quite small. The ox hair blender is used for blending light and dark colours in the production of shaded effects in lettering by signwriters.
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Abbreviations
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