finial
Syllables: fin·i·al/ˈfɪn.i.əl/US/ˈfɪn.i.əl/
finial noun: especially in Gothic architecture: an ornament, often in the form of a bunch or knot of foliage, on the peak of the gable of a roof, a pediment, a pinnacle, etc.
Noun
finial (plural finials)
- Especially in Gothic architecture: an ornament, often in the form of a bunch or knot of foliage, on the peak of the gable of a roof, a pediment, a pinnacle, etc.
- His [Butades'] invention it vvas to ſet up Gargils or Antiques at the top of a Gavill end, as a finiall to the creſt tiles, vvhich in the beginning he called Protypa.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...
- From this fair Palace then he takes his Front, / From that his Finials; […] / And ſo, ſelecting euery vvhere the beſt, / Doth thirty Models in one Houſe digeſt.1608, [Guillaume de Salluste] Du Bartas, “[Du Bartas His First Week, or Birth of the World: […].] The First Daie of the First Week.”, in Josuah Sylvester, transl., Du Bartas His Deuine Weekes and...
- Any decorative fitting on the corner, end, or top of an object such as a canopy, a fencepost, a flagpole, a curtain rod, or the newel post of a staircase.
- The finial 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.1947 January–February, “Notes and News: An Unusual Signal at Mottisfont, S.R.”, in The Railway Magazine, London: Tothill Press, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 55
- 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 iron finials and terracotta quatrefoils.1988, Alan Hollinghurst, chapter 7, in The Swimming-Pool Library, London: Vintage, published 1998, →ISBN, page 142
- The completion or end of something.
- But, as the Phœnix on my Front doth gliſter, / Thou ſhalt the Finials of my Frame illuſtre.1608, [Guillaume de Salluste] Du Bartas, “[Du Bartas His First Week, or Birth of the World: […].] The Fift Daie of the First Week.”, in Josuah Sylvester, transl., Du Bartas His Deuine Weekes and...
- [T]hey have invented idols, a manifest advance toward that polytheism and pantheism which lead through a triad and duad of deities to monotheism, the finial of the spiritual edifice.1876, Richard F[rancis] Burton, “The Minor Tribes and the Mpongwe”, in Two Trips to Gorilla Land and the Cataracts of the Congo. […], part I (The Gaboon River and Gorilla Land), London: Sampson Low...
finial meaning in Vietnamese
finial in Vietnamese
- ornament, often in the form of a bunch or knot of foliage, on the peak of the gable of a roof, etc.
- một năm
Examples of finial in a sentence
- [O]f that money vvhich aroſe of their amercements, vvere certain gilded ſhields made, vvhich vvere ſet up on the finial or lantern of Jupiters Temple.1659, T[itus] Livius [i.e., Livy], “[Book XXXV]”, in Philemon Holland, transl., The Romane Historie […], London: […] W. Hunt, for George...
- Truth uncompromisingly told will always have its ragged edges; hence the conclusion of such a narration is apt to be less finished than an architectural finial.1888–1891, Herman Melville, “[Billy Budd, Foretopman.] Chapter XXIV.”, in Billy Budd and Other Stories, London: John Lehmann, published...
- The steep slate roofs were topped with bronze finials so tall and fanciful they looked like drops of liquid sliding down a thread.2004, Alan Hollinghurst, chapter 3, in The Line of Beauty […], 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Bloomsbury Publishing, →ISBN, page 54:
- 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 the finial at the top and then bring it halfway down.2005, David Foster Wallace, “The View from Mrs. Thompson’s”, in Consider the Lobster and Other Essays, New York, N.Y.: Little, Brown and...
Forms of finial
| plural | finials |
|---|
Origin of finial
From Late Middle English finial (“(adjective) final; (noun) ornament at the upper extremity of a pinnacle, spire, etc.”) [and other forms], a variant of final (“pertaining to the close or end of something, last, final”), from Old French final (“last, final; definitive”) (modern French final), from Latin fīnālis (“of or pertaining to the end of something, final; of or pertaining to boundaries”), from fīnis (“a border; an end”) (possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeyd- (“to split”) or *dʰeygʷ- (“to set up; to stick”)) + -ālis (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining’ to forming adjectives).
Words formed from finial
Phrases with finial
Questions about finial
- What does finial mean?
- Finial means especially in Gothic architecture: an ornament, often in the form of a bunch or knot of foliage, on the peak of the gable of a roof, a pediment, a pinnacle, etc.
- What is finial in Vietnamese?
- Finial in Vietnamese is một năm. See Finial meaning in Vietnamese.
- How do you use finial in a sentence?
- [O]f that money vvhich aroſe of their amercements, vvere certain gilded ſhields made, vvhich vvere ſet up on the finial or lantern of Jupiters Temple.
- What part of speech is finial?
- Finial is a noun.
- How do you pronounce finial?
- Finial is pronounced /ˈfɪn.i.əl/ (UK).
- What is the plural of finial?
- The plural of finial is finials.
Words near finial in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: finial (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-finial.wav.
Cite this entry: “finial.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/finial. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.