entasis

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

noun a slight convexity in the shaft of a column; compensates for the illusion of concavity that viewers experience when the sides are perfectly straight

From Latin entasis, from Ancient Greek ἔντασις (éntasis, “tension, straining”), from ἐντείνω (enteínō, “to stretch or strain tight”).

These are all gilt, and show "architectural refinements," for the teak trees they are made of are not absolutely straight, and they have an entasis that is quite natural where they taper away into the golden gloom of the sloping timber roofs. — From Edinburgh to India & Burmah, W. G. (William Gordon) Burn Murdoch
The head and throat were seen to be attached to a scroll of shoulders, and a figure like a column rose from the floor--strangely columnar it was, and so slender that there was merely the slightest inslope of waist, merely the slightest entasis at the hips. — What Will People Say? A Novel, Rupert Hughes

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