caryatid

English

contemporary caryatids

Etymology

From Middle French cariatide, from Latin caryatides, from Ancient Greek Καρυάτιδες (Karuátides), plural of Καρυᾶτις (Karuâtis, “a priestess of Artemis, female figures used as bearing-shafts”), from καρυατίζω (karuatízō, “dance the Karyatid festival dance”) from Καρύαι (Karúai, “a town in Laconia with a temple of Artemis and a festival”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌkɛəɹiˈætɪd/, /ˌkæɹiˈætɪd/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

caryatid (plural caryatids or caryatides)

1. A sculpted female figure serving as an architectural support taking the place of a column or a pillar supporting an entablature on her head.
   • 1901, Henry James, Flickerbridge:

     She wore on the top of her head an upright circular cap that made her resemble a caryatid disburdened, and on other parts of her person strange combinations of colours, stuffs, shapes, of metal, mineral and plant.

Coordinate terms

• atlas, telamon

Derived terms

• caryatidal
• caryatidic
• caryatidlike

Translations

a sculpted female figure serving as an architectural element

• Armenian: կարիատիդ (hy) (kariatid)
• Asturian: cariátide f
• Belarusian: карыяты́да f (karyjatýda)
• Bulgarian: кариатида (kariatida)
• Catalan: cariàtide f
• Czech: karyatida (cs) f
• Danish: karyatide c
• Dutch: kariatide (nl) f
• French: cariatide (fr) f, caryatide (fr) f
• Galician: cariátide (gl) f
• German: Karyatide (de) f
• Greek: Καρυάτις (el) f (Karyátis), καρυάτιδα (el) f (karyátida)

  Ancient: Καρυᾶτις f (Karuâtis)

• Hungarian: kariatida (hu)
• Irish: cairiaitid f
• Italian: cariatide (it) f
• Latvian: kariatīde f
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: karyatide m

• Polish: kariatyda (pl) f
• Portuguese: cariátide
• Russian: кариати́да (ru) f (kariatída)
• Spanish: cariátide (es)
• Swedish: karyatid (sv) c
• Ukrainian: каріати́да (uk) f (kariatýda)

See also

• telamon