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Definition of "entasis" [en•ta•sis]

  • A slight convexity or swelling, as in the shaft of a column, intended to compensate for the illusion of concavity resulting from straight sides. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "entasis" in a sentence
  • "The ancient Greeks used a technique known as entasis which incorporates a slight convexity in the columns of the Parthenon to compensate for the illusion of concavity created by parallel lines."
  • ""I was reading a guide book which explained that the bulging of the columns 'base - known as entasis - is to counteract the well-known visual illusion that if you don't bulge them out in the middle, they appear waisted in the middle."
  • "Beard is rather dismissive of their optical sophistication, shown in the curvature of the stylobate and in the entasis of the columns — the slight outward swelling of a column designed to counter the optical illusion of concavity, were the columns 'sides to be perfectly straight."