Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
🍩 A ring shape 🏛️ A round molding
torus

torus

8.8
A rounded decorative band at the bottom of a column
  • noun
  • /ˈtɔrəs/
  • Specialized
translation icon : toro
  • In traditional Greco-Roman buildings, the torus is a key feature that supports the structure.

Examples

  • The architect explained that the torus serves both a functional and aesthetic role at the bottom of the column.

  • An unlicensed vehicle just crashed, potentially threatening the torus.

    Elysium (2013)

  • In addition to the gabled lids, the relatively unadorned surfaces, and the heavy torus moldings (emphatically massive on Lucrezia's), the two sarcophagi share similar dimensions.

    Academic text (1999)

  • The decorative torus at the base of the column adds classic elegance to the architecture.

Synonyms

tore
vstorus
  • Specialized
9.9

A rounded band at the base of a column in classical buildings

is a larger convex molding typically semicircular in profile

Compounds

supraorbital torus
  • Specialized
9.9

A thick bony ridge above the eyes often seen in early human ancestors

Surface Forms

torus singular
tori plural

Etymology

Torus comes from the Latin word torus, meaning a 'cushion' or rounded 'bulge'. That's why the rounded, semicircular molding at the base of a column is called a torus — it looks like a cushion wrapped around the bottom.