plinth
noun
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Plinth and Architecture
"These ivy-clad arcades — / These mouldering plinths ... are they all — / All of the famed, and the colossal left…?" In these lines from "The Coliseum," Edgar Allan Poe alludes to a practical feature of classical architecture. The plinth serves the important purpose of raising the base of the column it supports above the ground, thus protecting it from dampness and mold. The humble plinth is usually a mere thick block. It's humbly named, too, for the Greek word plinthos means simply "tile" or "brick." English writers have used plinth, a shortened version of the Latin form plinthus, since the mid-16th century. The word's meaning was later extended to bases for statues, vases, or busts.
Examples of plinth in a Sentence
K. Desbouis, Artforum, 6 Feb. 2026
As his public pronouncements became ever more circumspect, political commentators likened his approach to that of someone carrying a Ming vase across a polished museum floor, fixated on nothing more and nothing less than the task of delivering it safely to its plinth.
—Oliver Kay, New York Times, 30 Jan. 2026
An empty room with the plinths and whatnot.
—Clayton Davis, Variety, 19 Dec. 2025
The ultimate rectangles are formed from a 50-pound base of Swedish steel, which, to give you some perspective, means that each Braque plinth weighs about the same as a 9-year-old child or a bag of concrete mix.
—Julian Chokkattu, Wired News, 13 Dec. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Plinth.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/plinth. Accessed 14 Feb. 2026.
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plinth
noun
