cornice

Meanings

Noun

• A horizontal architectural element of a building, projecting forward from the main walls, originally used as a means of directing rainwater away from the building's walls.
• A decorative element applied at the topmost part of the wall of a room, as with a crown molding.
• A decorative element at the topmost portion of certain pieces of furniture, as with a highboy.
• An overhanging edge of snow on a ridge or the crest of a mountain and along the sides of gullies.

Verb

• To furnish or decorate with a cornice.

Origin

• From Middle French corniche or Italian cornice, from Latin cornīx ("crow").