stereobaten.
/ˈstɛriːəʊbeɪt/ Architecture.
A solid mass of masonry serving as a base for a wall or a row of columns. (See also quots.) The term occurs only once in ancient use (Vitruvius iii. iii). Vitruvius explains it as a massive wall built from the ground as a support for a row of columns. Modern writers (Latin in the 15–16th centuries, Italian, French, and English) have used it in various applications. According to some, stereobate is the generic term for a basement either under a wall or a row of columns, and a ‘stylobate’ is a stereobate of which the superstructure is columnar. Others restrict stereobate to the basement of a wall, as distinguished from stylobate, a basement under a row of columns. Others, again, use stereobate for the whole basement, and stylobate for the upper portion of this, which is added when there are columns.
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stereobate1836
1836 J. H. Parker Gloss. Terms Archit. 52 Stylobate, Stereobate, the substructure of a temple below the columns.
a1840 Hosking Archit. in Encycl. Brit. III. 470 Stereobate, a basement. It is sought to make a distinction between this term and Stylobate q.v., by restricting the latter to its real import, and applying stereobate to a basement in the absence of columns.
1875 Encycl. Brit. II. 441/1 [Italian Architecture.] A basement is either a low stereobate or a lofty story, according as it is intended to support a single ordinance [etc.].
Derivatives
stereoˈbatic adj. pertaining to or having the character of a stereobate.
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stereobatic1875
1875 Encycl. Brit. II. 408/1 A stereobatic dado raised on the stylobate and antæ-base mouldings.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1916; most recently modified version published online June 2018).
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n.1836