Ribbed vault

Vault Vault (v[add]lt; see Note, below), n. [OE. voute, OF. voute, volte, F. vo[^u]te, LL. volta, for voluta, volutio, fr. L. volvere, volutum, to roll, to turn about. See {Voluble}, and cf. {Vault} a leap, {Volt} a turn, {Volute}.] [1913 Webster] 1. (Arch.) An arched structure of masonry, forming a ceiling or canopy. [1913 Webster]

The long-drawn aisle and fretted vault. --Gray. [1913 Webster]

2. An arched apartment; especially, a subterranean room, use for storing articles, for a prison, for interment, or the like; a cell; a cellar. ``Charnel vaults.'' --Milton. [1913 Webster]

The silent vaults of death. --Sandys. [1913 Webster]

To banish rats that haunt our vault. --Swift. [1913 Webster]

3. The canopy of heaven; the sky. [1913 Webster]

That heaven's vault should crack. --Shak. [1913 Webster]

4. [F. volte, It. volta, originally, a turn, and the same word as volta an arch. See the Etymology above.] A leap or bound. Specifically: (a) (Man.) The bound or leap of a horse; a curvet. (b) A leap by aid of the hands, or of a pole, springboard, or the like. [1913 Webster]

Note: The l in this word was formerly often suppressed in pronunciation. [1913 Webster]

{Barrel vault}, {Cradle vault}, {Cylindrical vault}, or {Wagon vault} (Arch.), a kind of vault having two parallel abutments, and the same section or profile at all points. It may be rampant, as over a staircase (see {Rampant vault}, under {Rampant}), or curved in plan, as around the apse of a church.

{Coved vault}. (Arch.) See under 1st {Cove}, v. t.

{Groined vault} (Arch.), a vault having groins, that is, one in which different cylindrical surfaces intersect one another, as distinguished from a barrel, or wagon, vault.

{Rampant vault}. (Arch.) See under {Rampant}.

{Ribbed vault} (Arch.), a vault differing from others in having solid ribs which bear the weight of the vaulted surface. True Gothic vaults are of this character.

{Vault light}, a partly glazed plate inserted in a pavement or ceiling to admit light to a vault below. [1913 Webster]