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finial

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

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WOTD – 2 October 2023

Etymology

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An 1856illustration byEugène Viollet-le-Duc of a finial(sense 1) at thepeak of agable.

The finial(sense 1) of thedome of theTaj Mahal inAgra,Uttar Pradesh,India.

A finial(sense 2) on thenewel post of astaircase.

From LateMiddle Englishfinial(“(adjective) final; (noun) ornament at the upper extremity of a pinnacle, spire, etc.”) [and other forms],^[1] a variant offinal(“pertaining to the close or end of something, last, final”),^[2]^[3] fromOld Frenchfinal(“last, final; definitive”) (modernFrenchfinal), fromLatinfīnālis(“of or pertaining to the end of something, final; of or pertaining to boundaries”), fromfīnis(“a border; an end”) (possibly ultimately fromProto-Indo-European*bʰeyd-(“to split”) or*dʰeygʷ-(“to set up; to stick”)) +-ālis(suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining’ to formingadjectives).

Pronunciation

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(Received Pronunciation)IPA^(key): /ˈfɪn.i.əl/,/ˈfaɪ-/
Audio(Southern England): (file)
(General American)IPA^(key): /ˈfɪn.i.əl/
Hyphenation:fin‧i‧al

Noun

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finial (pluralfinials)

(architecture) Especially inGothicarchitecture: anornament, often in theform of abunch orknot offoliage, on thepeak of thegable of aroof, apediment, apinnacle, etc.
Coordinate term:fleuron
- 1601, C[aius] Plinius Secundus [i.e.,Pliny the Elder], “[Book XXXV.] The First Devisers of the Art of Potterie, and in Working in Cley. Of Images Made of Earth. Of Earthen Vessels, and Their Value in Old Time.”, inPhilemon Holland, transl.,The Historie of the World. Commonly Called, The Naturall Historie of C. Plinius Secundus. […], 2nd tome, London: […] Adam Islip,→OCLC,page552:
  His [Butades'] invention it vvas to ſet upGargils or Antiques at the top of a Gavill end, as afiniall to the creſt tiles, vvhich in the beginning he calledProtypa.
- 1608,[Guillaume de Salluste] Du Bartas, “[Du Bartas His First Week, or Birth of the World: […].] The First Daie of the First Week.”, inJosuah Sylvester, transl.,Du Bartas His Deuine Weekes and Workes […], 3rd edition, London: […] Humfrey Lownes[and are to be sold by Arthur Iohnson […]], published1611,→OCLC,page 7:
  From this fair Palace then he takes his Front, / From that hisFinials;[…] / And ſo, ſelecting euery vvhere the beſt, / Doth thirty Models in one Houſe digeſt.
- 1659, T[itus] Livius [i.e.,Livy], “[Book XXXV]”, inPhilemon Holland, transl.,The Romane Historie […], London: […] W. Hunt, for George Sawbridge, […],→OCLC,page716:
  [O]f that money vvhich aroſe of their amercements, vvere certain gilded ſhields made, vvhich vvere ſet up on thefinial or lantern ofJupiters Temple.
- 1888–1891,Herman Melville, “[Billy Budd, Foretopman.] Chapter XXIV.”, inBilly Budd and Other Stories, London:John Lehmann, published1951,→OCLC,page300:
  Truth uncompromisingly told will always have its ragged edges; hence the conclusion of such a narration is apt to be less finished than an architecturalfinial.
- 2004,Alan Hollinghurst, chapter 3, inThe Line of Beauty […], 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.:Bloomsbury Publishing,→ISBN,page54:
  The steep slate roofs were topped with bronzefinials so tall and fanciful they looked like drops of liquid sliding down a thread.
(by extension) Anydecorativefitting on thecorner,end, ortop of anobject such as acanopy, afencepost, aflagpole, acurtain rod, or thenewel post of astaircase.
- 1947 January–February, “Notes and News: An Unusual Signal at Mottisfont, S.R.”, inThe Railway Magazine, London: Tothill Press,→ISSN,→OCLC, page55:
  Thefinial is also of timber (probably oak) and is of the rather elaborate type, originally favoured by the London & South Western Railway for its timber masts.
- 1988, Alan Hollinghurst, chapter 7, inThe Swimming-Pool Library, London:Vintage, published1998,→ISBN,page142:
  It was a narrow, gravelled island we had to lie on, guarded by glazed brick chimneys and, running along the sides, a prickly little gothic fence of ironfinials and terracotta quatrefoils.
- 1994 January 12,David Karp, “Once considered exotic, some fruits become family”, inThe New York Times‎^[1], New York, N.Y.:The New York Times Company,→ISSN,→OCLC, archived fromthe original on2021-10-30:
  Mark Twain called the cherimoya "deliciousness itself," though others have described this heart-shaped, fist-sized fruit with pale-green leathery skin as "reptilian," like a "fossil artichoke" or "thefinial for a giant four-poster bed."
- 2005,David Foster Wallace, “The View from Mrs. Thompson’s”, inConsider the Lobster and Other Essays, New York, N.Y.:Little, Brown and Company, published2006,→ISBN, page129:
  He says there's a very particular etiquette to having your flag at half-mast: you're supposed to first run it all the way up to thefinial at the top andthen bring it halfway down.
- 2021 September 22, “A Signal Survivor from the 1800s”, inRail, number940, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire:Bauer Media,→ISSN,→OCLC, page82:
  For several years, thefinial was missing, and its replica replacement will save the wooden post from rotting.
(figurative, also attributive) Thecompletion or end of something.
- 1608,[Guillaume de Salluste] Du Bartas, “[Du Bartas His First Week, or Birth of the World: […].] The Fift Daie of the First Week.”, inJosuah Sylvester, transl.,Du Bartas His Deuine Weekes and Workes […], 3rd edition, London: […] Humfrey Lownes[and are to be sold by Arthur Iohnson […]], published1611,→OCLC,page140:
  But, as the Phœnix on my Front doth gliſter, / Thou ſhalt theFinials of my Frame illuſtre.
- 1876,Richard F[rancis] Burton, “The Minor Tribes and the Mpongwe”, inTwo Trips to Gorilla Land and the Cataracts of the Congo. […], part I (The Gaboon River and Gorilla Land), London:Sampson Low, Marston, Low, and Searle, […],→OCLC,page96:
  [T]hey have invented idols, a manifest advance toward that polytheism and pantheism which lead through a triad and duad of deities to monotheism, thefinial of the spiritual edifice.
- 1880,R[ichard] D[oddridge] Blackmore, “Battery and Assumpsit”, inMary Anerley. A Yorkshire Tale. […], volume III, London:Sampson Low, Marston, Searle & Rivington, […],→OCLC,page33:
  […] Lancelot Carnaby stopped from his rash venture into the water, and drew himself back into an ivied bush, which served as thefinial of the little garden-hedge.