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to rusticate

to rusticate

1 9.9
To make stone or a building surface look rough and textured
  • verb
  • /ˈrʌstɪˌkeɪt/
  • Specialized
translation icon : rusticar
  • At its heart, a great new Town Hall was rising, a palace really, utterly unlike anything to be seen north of Venice: a four-storied triumphal statement, rusticated below, balustraded above, Ionic pilasters, all the Renaissance trimmings.
  • rusticate a stone arch

Examples

  • The architect chose to rusticate the facade to give the building a more rugged and traditional appearance.

  • And you'll remember also the intriguing combination of of rusticated masonry and smooth masonry for those two Claudian buildings.

  • Visitors are fascinated by the richness of details in the exterior carvings, rusticated brickwork, stenciled interior walls, and carved mahogany woodwork.

    Academic text (2004)
  • Formally, the Fountain of the Indian begins in an elliptical basin in the center of which stands a rusticated rectangular base with four corner protrusions and a relief of a lion's head in the arch (Figs. 2, 13).

    Academic text (2013)
  • In the restoration, the team decided to rusticate the stonework, enhancing the charm of the historical structure.

  • To achieve a rustic look, they planned to rusticate the surface of the new library with rough-hewn stones.

Synonyms

to roughcast
vsto rusticate
8.1

To make a rough basic shape before finishing it

create a deliberately rough architectural surface as a finished style

Antonyms

93 4.0

Make something better by making a few small changes

1 5.8

An act of making a surface even by rubbing or pressing

How Textured

to roughen
2 4.2
to chisel
19 5.1
to rusticate
  • Specialized
1 9.9
to finish
  • Informal
239 2.4
smooth
1 5.8

Surface Forms

rusticate infinitive
rusticated past
rusticated past participle
rusticating present participle
rusticates third person singular

Morphology

rusticate = rustic (transparent) = rustic + ate

Architectural use 'to give a rustic appearance' is directly 'make/make like rustic' and aligns with the productive verbal '-ate' suffix.

Etymology

Rusticate comes from the Latin root rus meaning 'country' and the word rustic meaning 'rural' or 'rough'. In architecture to rusticate stone is to give it a rough, countryside look, so the word links the rough texture to the idea of being 'rustic'.