bay window

bay window
1. an alcove of a room, projecting from an outside wall and having its own windows, esp. one having its own foundations. Cf. bow window, oriel.
2. Informal. a large, protruding belly; paunch.
[1400-50; late ME]

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      window formed as the exterior expression of a bay within a structure, a bay in this context being an interior recess made by the outward projection of a wall. The purpose of a bay window is to admit more light than would a window flush with the wall line.

      A bay window may be rectangular, polygonal, or arc-shaped. If the last, it may be called a bow window. There has been a continuing confusion between bay and bow windows. Bay window is the older term and has become the generic form. A bay window is also called an oriel, or oriel window, when it projects from an upper story and is supported by corbels.

      Bay windows are associated historically with mansions of the early English Renaissance. They are characteristically employed at the end of a great hall opposite the entrance and behind the raised dais on which the lord of the manor was served. In modern architecture the bay window emerged as a prominent feature of the Chicago School. The utilitarian program of William Le Baron Jenney (Jenney, William Le Baron), one goal of which was maximum admission of natural light, resulted in the creation of the cellular wall and a new emphasis on bay windows. An interesting example is Jenney's Manhattan Building (Chicago, 1890), which displays both polygonal bay windows and bow windows.

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Universalium. 2010.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • bay-window — [ bɛwindo ] n. f. • 1664; mot angl. , de bay « baie » et window « fenêtre » ♦ Anglic. Bow window. Des bay windows. Recomm. offic. oriel. bay window [bɛwindo] n. f. ÉTYM. 1664; mot angl. de bay « baie », et window « fenêtre ». ❖ …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • Bay window — Bay win dow 1. (Arch.) A window forming a bay or recess in a room, and projecting outward from the wall, either in a rectangular, polygonal, or semicircular form; often corruptly called a {bow window}. Syn: bay window, bow window, bow window.… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • bay window — bay windows N COUNT A bay window is a window that sticks out from the outside wall of a house …   English dictionary

  • bay window — n [Date: 1400 1500; Origin: BAY13] a window that sticks out from the wall of a house, usually with glass on three sides …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • bay window — noun count a large window that sticks out from the main wall of a house …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • bay window — ► NOUN ▪ a window built to project outwards from a wall …   English terms dictionary

  • bay window — n. 1. a window or set of windows jutting out from the wall of a building and forming an alcove within ☆ 2. Slang a large, protruding belly …   English World dictionary

  • Bay window — A bay window is a window space projecting outward from the main walls of a building and forming a bay in a room, either square or polygonal in plan. The angles most commonly used on the inside corners of the bay are 90, 135 and 150 degrees. Bay… …   Wikipedia

  • bay window — noun 1. slang for a paunch • Syn: ↑pot, ↑potbelly, ↑corporation, ↑tummy • Usage Domain: ↑slang, ↑cant, ↑jargon, ↑lingo, ↑ …   Useful english dictionary

  • bay window — Synonyms and related words: abdomen, abomasum, bay, beerbelly, belly, bow window, breadbasket, casement, casement window, corporation, craw, crop, diaphragm, embonpoint, fan window, fanlight, first stomach, gizzard, grille, gullet, gut, honeycomb …   Moby Thesaurus

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