pilaster
a shallow rectangular column attached to the face of a wall
Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005
Pilaster
A partial pier or column, often with a base, shaft, and capital, that is embedded in a flat wall and projects slightly; may be constructed as a projection of the wall itself.
grouped pilaster
Two or more closely spaced pilasters forming a group, often on one pedestal.
Illustrated Dictionary of Architecture Copyright © 2012, 2002, 1998 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved
pilaster
[pə′las·tər] (civil engineering)
A vertical rectangular architectural member that is structurally a pier and architecturally a column.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
pilaster
1. An engaged pier or pillar, often with capital and base.
2. Decorative features that imitate engaged piers but are not supporting structures, as a rectangular or semicircular member used as a simulated pillar in entrances and other door openings and fireplace mantels; often contains a base, shaft, and capital; may be constructed as a projection of the wall itself. (See illustration p. 726.)
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Architecture and Construction. Copyright © 2003 by McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.
Pilaster
a flat upright projection on a wall or pillar; it is rectangular in plan. A pilaster is architecturally treated as a column but usually lacks entasis. Pilasters were widely used in ordered architecture primarily as decorative elements that divided a wall. Sometimes pilasters are load bearing.
The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.