cupola
/ˈkjuːpələ/ noun
Forms cupolas cupolae
- noun (architecture) A dome-shaped ornamental structure located on top of a larger roof or dome.
- noun (military, railroad) A small turret, usually on a hatch of an armoured fighting vehicle.
- noun (geology) An upward-projecting mass of plutonic rock extending from a larger batholith.
- noun (geometry) A solid formed by joining two polygons, one (the base) with twice as many edges as the other, by an alternating band of isosceles triangles and rectangles.
- noun A type of furnace used for smelting.
- noun (anatomy) A small cap over a structure that is shaped like a dome or inverted cup.
- noun (railways, Canada, dated) a small viewing window in the top of the caboose for looking over the train, or the part of the caboose where one looks through this window.
- noun A body of members of the Sicilian Mafia who make decisions and settle disputes.
Etymology
Borrowed from Italian cupola, from Latin cūpula (“little tub”); from Latin cūpa, cuppa (“cup”); named for its resemblance to a cup turned over. Doublet of cupula.
Webster’s 1913
- noun A roof having a rounded form, hemispherical or nearly so; also, a celing having the same form. When on a large scale it is usually called dome.
- noun A small structure standing on the top of a dome; a lantern.
Etymology [It. cupola, LL. cupula, cuppula (cf. L. cupula little tub). fr. cupa, cuppa, cup; cf. L. cupa tub. So called on account of its resemblance to a cup turned over. See Cup, and cf.Cupule.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “cupola”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details