baluster
(ˈbæləstə(r))
Forms: 7– baluster; also 7 ballester, 7–8 balluster, -aster, -ister, balister. See also banister.
[a. F. balustre masc. ‘baluster,’ 16th c. ad. It. balaustro in same sense; so named from It. balausta, balaustra (F. balauste, balustre fem., in Cotgrave 1611), in Florio balausto ‘the blossom of the wild pomegranate’ (L. balaustium, a. Gr. βαλαύστιον in same sense), on account of the resemblance of a baluster to the double-curving calyx-tube of this flower. In English, corrupted already in 17th c. to barrester, -ister, bannister, banister, which last is now, in sense 3, the prevailing form.]
1. a. A short pillar or column, of circular section, and curving outline (properly, double-curved), slender above and swelling below into an elliptical or pear-shaped bulge; usually applied in a series called a balustrade.
| 1602 Carew Cornwall 107 a, Planched ouer and rayled about with ballisters. 1611 Cotgr., Balustres, Ballisters; little, round, and short pillars, ranked on the outside of Cloisters, Terraces, Galleries, etc. 1697 C'tess D'Aunoy's Trav. Spain (1706) 125 Her Bed-Head was adorned with four Rows of little Copper Ballisters. 1716–8 Lady Montague Lett. 37 I. 153 Marble galleries..with marble balusters. 1879 Sir G. Scott Lect. Archit. II. 37 What are called baluster columns, or short pillars, turned in a lathe, not unlike Elizabethan balusters, bulging in the middle. |
b. A similar pillar used in a window.
| 1844 F. Paley Ch. Restorers 5 Belfry windows, each of two lights, separated by a baluster shaft. 1861 Parker Goth. Archit. (1874) 319 Baluster, in windows, a small pillar swelling in the middle. |
2. A slender upright post or pillar of any shape supporting a rail; in pl. a railing or balustrade.
| 1663 Flagellum or O. Cromwell (1672) 189 Environed with Rails and Ballasters four square covered with Velvet. 1682 Wheler Journ. Greece ii. 204 An Area..with Balusters or Rails about it. 1725 tr. Dupin's Eccl. Hist. 17th c. I. v. 101 The Sanctuary was a Place in the Choir..separated by Balusters. 1787 Beckford Italy (1834) II. 326 Enriched with balusters of rich bronze. |
3. (Usually in pl.) The upright posts or rails which support the handrail, and guard the side, of a staircase; often applied to the whole structure of uprights and handrail. Now more usually banisters, q.v.
| 1753 World 22 Nov., The Bedlamites leap'd over the Balisters of the Staircase. 1823 P. Nicholson Pract. Build. 200 Balusters are vertical pieces fixed on the steps for supporting the hand-rail. 1853 Ch. Auchester I. 42 A staircase..of a rich brown colour..so also were the balusters. |
4. collect. sing. A balustrade, or protective railing. arch.
| 1644 Evelyn Mem. (1857) I. 67 A border of freestone..with a rail and baluster of pure white marble. 1670 R. Lassels Voy. Italy II. 29 A continual baluster, or row of rayles. a 1720 Sheffield (Dk. Buckhm.) Wks. (1753) II. 221 These stairs..are so very easy, there is no need of leaning on the iron balluster. 1756 Nugent Gr. Tour I. 116 The choir is separated from the body of the church by a ballister. |
5. Class. Archit. ‘The lateral part of the volute of an Ionic capital.’ Gwilt.
6. attrib. and Comb.: baluster column or baluster shaft (see quot. 1853); baluster-rail. Esp. in sense ‘having the shape of a baluster’, as baluster handle, baluster jug, baluster pitcher, baluster stem, baluster vase; so baluster-shaped adj.
| 1844 Baluster shaft [see baluster 1 b]. 1853 Archit. Publ. Soc. Dict., Baluster column, the name given to a pillar used in the so-called Saxon architecture of England for a divisional support in windows. 1871 Franks Catal. Slade Coll. Glass 120 Goblet, with a..baluster stem. 1878 W. J. Cripps O. Eng. Plate x. 292 The foot is much like those of earlier cups, but the stem is different, being formed as acanthus or other leaves, the upper part of it baluster-shaped. 1906 Daily Chron. 28 Sept. 7/5 Going downstairs, his brother wrenched a baluster-rail out of the staircase. 1912 Eng. Hist. Rev. Oct. 832 A rather early baluster-stem cup. 1933 Burlington Mag. July 36/2 A baluster vase..illustrates in its lotus design the type with ornament painted in outline. 1938 Oxoniensia III. 11 The so-called ‘baluster’ pitchers from London, Oxford or York. 1939 Ibid. IV. 122 The baluster jug from Well 9..supplies a clue to the upper limit of the group. 1956 G. Taylor Silver vii. 149 Saucepans..with everted lips, and a turned wooden baluster handle. |