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illustration Volute

Volute

[vəl-YOOT]

Part of speech: noun

Origin: French, mid 16th century

1.

A spiral scroll characteristic of Ionic capitals and also used in Corinthian and composite capitals.

2.

Forming a spiral curve or curves.

Examples of Volute in a sentence

"Many Greek buildings are easily recognizable by the volute on the top of columns."

"Both sea and land snails often have similarly volute shells."

About Volute

While volute developed in French, it originated from the Latin words “voluta” and “volvere” (which mean “to roll”).

Did you Know?

The decorative spiral scrolls recognizable on Ionic and Corinthian Greek buildings are known as volutes. For United States citizens, these might be closer than one would expect. Many state capitol buildings employ this design, including the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, D.C.

illustration Volute

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