Meanings
plural voussoirs
- architectureOne of a series of wedge-shaped bricks or stones forming an arch or vault.First known use 1728
Other areas have mortar joints missing, including between the voussoir blocks forming the edge of the arches on either side of the pier.
2020 May 20, Philip Haigh, “Ribblehead: at the heart of the S&C's survival and its revival: Ribblehead Viaduct repairs”, in RAIL, page 261 more example
It is the voussoir depth in a real arch which enables the arch to carry wider ranges of loading; a large number of different idealized centre-line arches can be contained within a given practical profile. ...[T]his must be so, or no mediaeval bridge would have survived its decentering.
1977, Jaques Heyman, Equilibrium of Shell Structures, Clarendon Press, Oxford, page 2
Origin
- Latinvolvō“to roll”
- Vulgar Latin*volsorium
- Old Frenchvosoir
- Frenchvoussoir
- Englishvoussoir
Unadapted borrowing from French voussoir, from Old French vosoir, from Vulgar Latin *volsorium, from *volsus, from Latin volvō (“to roll”).
More words from French, Old French, Vulgar Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian клиновиден камък
- клиновиден камък (klinoviden kamăk)wedge-shaped brick or stone
Catalan dovella
- dovellawedge-shaped brick or stone
Finnish holvikivi
- holvikiviwedge-shaped brick or stone
French voussoir
- voussoirwedge-shaped brick or stone
German Keilstein, Bogenstein
- Keilsteinwedge-shaped brick or stone
- Bogensteinwedge-shaped brick or stone
- Bogenstückwedge-shaped brick or stone
- Bogensegmentwedge-shaped brick or stone
Polish kliniec
- kliniecwedge-shaped brick or stone
Portuguese aduela
- aduelawedge-shaped brick or stone
Spanish dovela
- dovelawedge-shaped brick or stone
Cite this entry
voussoir. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/voussoir
“voussoir.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/voussoir. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “voussoir,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/voussoir.
Source: voussoir on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.