MISC ARCHITECTURE VOCABULARY

Question 1

ABACISCUS

Answer 1

diminutive form of the word abacus

a patterned tile or rectangular area in a mosaic

Question 2

ABACUS

Answer 2

flat squared slab at the very top of a classical column, the upper part of a capital above an echinus and below an entablature

Question 3

ABRASION

Answer 3

the act of being rubbed or worn down

Question 4

ABRASION RESISTANCE

Answer 4

the resistance of a surface, coating, etc. to marking or scratching

Question 5

ABS

Answer 5

acrylonitrile butadiene styrene

opaque engineering thermoplastic widely used in electronic housings, auto parts, consumer products, pipe fittings

Question 6

ABSOLUTE HUMIDITY

Answer 6

the moisture content of air measured as the weight of water vapor per unit volume of air

SI units are kg/m^3

Question 7

ABSORPTION

Answer 7

a physical phenomenon, the soaking up of a liquid by a porous solid, a gas by a liquid, or energy in the form of sound, heat or light by matter; see sound absorption, attenuation.

Question 8

ACACIA

Answer 8

genus of bushes and hardwood trees from warm climates, whose wood is used for outdoor furniture;

specimens often planted as ornamentals in countries w/ suitable conditions of warmth

Acacia Melanoxylon

Question 9

ACANTHUS

Answer 9

carved and decorative ornament found especially adorning classical Corinthian capitals, based on stylized leaves of the Mediterranean acanthus plant

Question 10

ACCELERATED SET

Answer 10

in concrete work, an increase in the rate of stiffening during the setting of concrete

Question 11

ACCENT LIGHTING

Answer 11

interior lighting designed to illuminate or accentuate features in a room, such as artwork, architectural details and furnishings

Question 12

ACCEPTOR

Answer 12

a metal or extruded plastics product attached at the edge of a wall opening, to which a door or window frame can be easily attached.

Question 13

ACCESS CONTROL

Answer 13

any of a number of security systems using locks, surveillance equipment and card readers w/in a building or restricted areas to allow the circulation of authorized persons but inhibit the passage of intruders

Question 14

ACCESS COVER

Answer 14

a covering hatch, plate or construction attached over an access opening in a drainage pipe, duct or vessel, removed to allow for cleaning and maintenance

Question 15

ACCOUPLED

Answer 15

in classical architecture, a description of columns or pilasters arranged in pairs, twinned or joined together

Question 16

ACCRINGTON BRICK

Answer 16

a hard, dark red brick made of shale from East Lancashire in England, used for engineering and industrial purposes

Question 17

ACER

Answer 17

genus of trees commonly known as maples

128 species

Question 18

ACID CLEANING

Answer 18

a cleaning treatment for metals using sulphuric, phosphoric or citric acids in combination with surfactants to remove contaminants, rust and scale from the surface

Question 19

ACORN

Answer 19

ovoid finial resembling the fruiting body of an oak tree

used as an ornamental terminating element for a balustrade or pier

Question 20

ACROTERION, ACROTER

Answer 20

in classical architecture, a plinth or pedestal for statues, set at the apex or eaves of a temple

also often the statures or ornaments themselves

plural - acroteria; latin - acroterium. greek - akroterion

Question 21

ACRYLIC SHEET

Answer 21

strong translucent or opaque lightweight sheet of polymethyl methacrylate plastics used for glazing and cladding

marketed as perspex and plexiglas

Question 22

ACYLIC

Answer 22

a synthetic polymer resin used in plastics, paints, adhesives and textiles

Question 23

ACOUSTIC PLASTER

Answer 23

plaster containing lightweight or other porous aggregates, used for its acoustic properties, especially sound absorption

also called acoustic mortar

Question 24

ADAM STYLE

Answer 24

a style in interior decoration in England from 1760-70 named after the Adam brothers, John, Robert, and James, and characterized by classical motifs and bold colours

Question 25

ADIABATIC

Answer 25

referring to a thermodynamics process which occurs w/o the transfer of heat

Question 26

ADULARIA

Answer 26

a transparent variety of the mineral orthoclase or potash feldspar found in the Alps

a milky variety of this is known as moonstone

Question 27

AEDICULE,

AEDICULA (LATIN)

Answer 27

classical architecture

a niche, recess or pedimented structure, especially one housing a statue, surrounded by columns, pilasters, or colonnettes

Question 28

AEOLIC CAPITAL

Answer 28

in classical architecture, a forerunner of teh ionic capital with a rectangular upper section supported by volutes divided by palmette decoration

Question 29

AERATED CONCRETE

cellular, porous

Answer 29

various types of light-weight concrete for in-situ work and precast products with good thermal insulation produced by the introduction of bubbles of gas into the mix, either by a foaming agent, by adding foam, by mechanical foaming or by adding a chemical which reacts with the concrete to produce gas bubbles

Question 30

AERATION

Answer 30

the introduction of air into a material such as soil, water, concrete etc

especially the introduction of oxygen into raw sewage to reduce the quantity of other dissolved gases

Question 31

AERIAL

Answer 31

antenna - a telecommunications receiver for airborne electromagnetic transmissions

Question 32

AEROSOL

Answer 32

a suspension of fine particles of solid or liquid in a gas, usually air

Question 33

AFRICAN MAHOGANY

Answer 33

a group of west African hardwoods with relatively strong and durable orange-brown timber

used for interior joinery, furniture and boat building

true mahogany comes from the south and central American trees swietenia spp.

Question 34

AFRICAN WALNUT

Answer 34

ALONA, CONGO WOOD

west African hardwood with plain golden brown timber; used for furniture, paneling and veneers.

Question 35

AGGLOMERATED CORK

Answer 35

a light, porous, buoyant material manufactured by reconstituting granulated cork to form slabs and other products

Question 36

AGGREGATE

Answer 36

inert granular material such as sand, gravel, crushed rock and clinker used as a main solid constituent in concrete, plaster, tarmacadam and asphalt

Question 37

AGGREGATE EXPOSURE

Answer 37

a finish treatment for a concrete surface in which water, or in some cases acid, is sprayed to wash away the surface layer of cement, revealing the coarse aggregate; the result is called exposed aggregate concrete.

Question 38

AIR ADMITTANCE VALVE

Answer 38

a valce in a drainage system to permit the entrance of ventilating fresh air an to even out pressure differences.

Question 39

AIR BRICK / VENTILATING BRICK

Answer 39

a brick with regular round perforations from stretcher face to stretcher face, used to reduce the weight of walling construction and for ventilating cavity walls, basement spaces, etc…

Question 40

AIR-CHANGE RATE

Answer 40

the specified number of times per hour that
ventilating air in a room is completely renewed and old air extracted, expressed as the hourly volume of air provided to a space divided by the volume of the space.

Question 41

AIR-DETRAINING ADMIXTURE

AIR-DETRAINING AGENT

Answer 41

in concrete work, an admixture included in the concrete mix to inhibit the inclusion of air