Pillars

Origin

Middle English piler, from Anglo-French, from Medieval Latin pilare, from Latin pila

• 13th Century

Definitions

• 1a : a firm upright support for a superstructure : post

b : a usually ornamental column or shaft; especially : one standing alone for a monument

• 2a : a supporting, integral, or upstanding member or part <a pillar of society>

b : a fundamental precept <the five pillars of Islam>

• 3: a solid mass of coal, rock, or ore left standing to support a mine roof
• 4: a body part that resembles a column

Description

A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is an structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. For the purpose of wind or earthquake engineering, columns may be designed to resist lateral forces. Other compression members are often termed "columns" because of the similar stress conditions. Columns are frequently used to support beams or arches on which the upper parts of walls or ceilings rest. In architecture, "column" refers to such a structural element that also has certain proportional and decorative features. A column might also be a decorative element not needed for structural purposes; many columns are "engaged with", that is to say form part of a wall.[1]