edifice

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈɛd.ɪ.fɪs/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English edifice, borrowed from Old French edifice (“building”),^{[2][3][4][5][6]} from Latin aedificium (“building”),^{[2][3][4][5][6]} from aedificāre “to build”,^[2][3][4] from aedis “temple; dwelling”, originally “hearth”, and the combining form of facere “to make”.^[2][3][4] It is related to edify.^[4][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

A building, usually a large and stately one such as a church, palace or fortress (c. 1386 in the OED; about 1380 in Barnhart).^[7][3][4]

Semantic evolution

Latin aedēs meant a temple, and in the plural a dwelling, originally “a place with a hearth”, from a root meaning “to burn”.^[4] English also used edifice for the act of building and for architectural style (1580), senses now obsolete.^[7] The figurative sense, an elaborate structure of ideas or a large organization, is recorded from 1711.^[7][2][5]

Timeline

• c. 1380 – a building.^[3][7]
• 1580 – style of building (obsolete).^[7]
• 1711 – figuratively, a complex structure.^[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A building, especially a large or imposing one.
2. An elaborate conceptual structure or large complex organization, as in the edifice of social order.

Related words

• edification
• edificatory
• edify
• building
• fact

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
4. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
7. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press