caryatid
a column, used to support an entablature, in the form of a draped female figure
Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005
Caryatid
A supporting member serving the function of a pier, column, or pilaster, and carved in the form of a draped, human figure; in Greek architecture.
Illustrated Dictionary of Architecture Copyright © 2012, 2002, 1998 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved
caryatid
A supporting member serving the function of a pier, column, or pilaster and carved or molded in the form of a draped, human, female figure. See canephora.
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 It might be outdated or ideologically biased.
Caryatid
(from the Greek karyatides, literally, the priestesses of the Temple of Artemis at Caryae, in Laconia, ancient Greece), in architecture, the sculptural representation of a standing female figure, serving as the support of a beam. Sometimes the figure only gives the impression of fulfilling a supportive function and simply serves as a decoration of the actual support. Caryatids were widely used in ancient Greek and Roman architecture, as well as in European architecture of the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries.
The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.