Vocabulary Words and Definitions

Terms will be continually added to this list.

Some vocabulary words that have appeared in articles pertaining to the Amphipolis monument

septal wall = dividing partition between two cavities (no hole); thus the crude sealing walls are "septal walls"

diaphragm wall = dividing partition between two cavities (with a hole); thus the original partitions with doorways are the "diaphragm walls"; (from Webster's dictionary: "A dividing membrane or thin partition, commonly with an opening through it."; see the full entry )

antechamber = reception room or entrance room

heroon [said like "HERO-on"] = a shrine for the cult worship of a hero, usually built over the supposed burial spot of the hero or else containing the supposed bones of the hero

cenotaph [SEN-oh-taff] = "A monument built to honor soldiers who died in a war"-- Wordnet; "An empty tomb or a monument erected in honor of a person who is buried elsewhere."-- Webster's dictionary

tumulus = an artificial hill raised over a grave

psychopomp = a conductor of souls to the afterlife; "Hermes psychopomp" is Hermes in his role as guide of the dead

chiton [K(EYE)-ton] = "a woolen tunic worn by men and women in ancient Greece"-- Wordnet; "An under garment among the ancient Greeks, nearly representing the modern shirt."-- Webster's dictionary

peplos = an ancient Greek female garment consisting of cloth held up at the shoulders and draped in folds down to the waist

caryatid = "a draped female figure [carved from stone] supporting an entablature, in the place of a column or pilaster"-- Webster's dictionary; Dorothy King provides a detailed discussion of caryatids here entablature = in architecture, the horizontal structure lying on top of a row of columns; "It is commonly divided into architrave, the part immediately above the column; frieze, the central space; and cornice, the upper projecting moldings."-- Webster's dictionary

lintel = horizontal beam over a door or window

stadium = "a Greek measure of length, 600 podes = 582 English feet, the Greek foot being .971 of an English foot"-- Chamber's dictionary; "A Greek measure of length, being the chief one used for itinerary distances, also adopted by the Romans for nautical and astronomical measurements. It was equal to 600 Greek or 625 Roman feet, or 125 Roman paces, or to 606 feet 9 inches English. This was also called the Olympic stadium, as being the exact length of the foot-race course at Olympia."-- Webster's dictionary (see the full entry for a few additional details; this is where the modern word "stadium" comes from)

furlong = 220 yards, which is 1/8 of a mile; "the length of a furrow"

Thassos marble = fine marble from the island of Thassos, which is near Amphipolis

ionic = in art, resembling artistic forms from Ionia (Greek lands in ancient western Turkey)

archaic = an early, primitive form of something

archaicizing = in art, an intentional effort to make new artwork resemble earlier, archaic styles