Meanings
nounwestwork (plural westworks)
plural westworks
- architectureThe vaulted monumental structure at the western end of a church constructed in some medieval styles, flanked by two towers and containing the entrance.
Facing the raised sanctuary over the vast crypt they also often erected at the west end of the nave a towerlike structure with vaulted stories, that we call the "westwork."
1987, Malcolm Quantrill, The Environmental Memory: Man and Architecture in the Landscape of Ideas, page 134
Origin
Translations
Finnish länsikkö
- länsikköarchitectural feature
French massif occidental
- massif occidentalarchitectural feature
German Westwerk
- Westwerkarchitectural feature
Hungarian védmű
- védműarchitectural feature
Swedish västverk
- västverkarchitectural feature
Cite this entry
APA
westwork. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/westwork
MLA
“westwork.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/westwork. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “westwork,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/westwork.
Source: westwork on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.