| A | B |
|---|
| arcade | a series of arches supported by piers or columns |
| faience | pottery (except porcelain) glazed with compounds of tin; also, any glazed earthenware |
| portico | a porch with a roof supported by columns; an entrance porch |
| vault | a roof constructed on the arch principle |
| ribbed vault | a vault in which there is a framework of ribs or arches under the intersections of the vaulting sections |
| pavilion | a structure of building connected to a larger building (an annex) |
| cruciform | cross-shaped |
| colonnade | a series or row of columns, usually spanned by lintels |
| lintel | a beam used to span an opening |
| horror vacui | literally, "fear of empty space"; crowded design |
| hippodrome | an open air stadium area |
| minaret | a tall, slender tower attached to a mosque from which the muezzin calls the people to prayer |
| muezzin | in Islam, the person who calls the faithful to prayer five times each day |
| buttress | an exterior structure that opposes the lateral thrust of an arch or a vault |
| "The Blue Mosque" | another name for the Mosque of Sultan Ahmed |
| basilica | in Roman architecture, a public building for assemblies (especially tribunals) |
| basilical plan | rectangular in plan with an entrance on a long side |
| central plan | when all parts of a building radiate from a central point |
| corbel | courses of stone or brick in which each course projects beyond the one beneath it |
| superstructure | the part of a building or other structure above the foundation |
| eclectic | made up of elements from a variety of sources |
| motif | in art or architecture, a repeated figure or design |
| transverse | cross-wise/perpendicular |
| ethereal | characterized by lightness and insubstantiality (intangible); highly refined or delicate; heavenly or other-worldly (spiritual) |
| citadel | a fortress in a commanding position in or near a city |
| Moors | Muslims that entered Spain in the 8th century and established a civilization in Andalusia that lasted until the late 15th century |
| Moorish | in the style of Muslim Spain |
| calligraphy | writing used as a decorative art |
| pointed arch | unlike the rounded roman arch, these arches come to a point |
| ablutions fountain | fountain or bath for spiritual cleansing |
| sahn | courtyard |
| mausoleum | a large, stately tomb, or a building housing such a tomb or tombs |
| qibla | a specific niche in the wall which orients prayer towards Mecca |
| stalactite | an icicle-shaped mineral deposit; art--decoration in that form |
| muqarnas | three-dimensional decoration |
| mihrab | the niche in the wall that indicates the qibla |
| ambulatory | a covered walkway, outdoors (as in a cloister) or indoors |
| mosaic | patterns or pictures made by embedding small pieces of stone or glass in cement |
| fenestrated | windowed |
| gilded | covered with a thin layer of gold |
| cloister | a court/courtyard, usually surronded by ambulatories |
| apse | a recess, usually singular and semi-circular in the wall of a Roman basilica or at the east end of a Christian church |
| niche | a small recess in a wall, as for holding a statue or an urn |
| choir | architecture: space reserved for the clergy in a church |
