corbeling

US: (kôr′bə ling)

From the verb corbel: (⇒ conjugate)

corbeling is: ⓘ

v pres p (US)

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

cor•bel•ing  (kôr′bə ling), n. [Archit.]

1. Architecture, British Terms the construction of corbels.
2. Architecture, British Terms a system of corbels.

Also,[esp. Brit.,] cor′bel•ling. 

• corbel + -ing¹ 1540–50

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

cor•bel  (kôr′bəl), n., v., -beled, -bel•ing or (esp. Brit.) -belled, -bel•ling. [Archit.]
n. 

1. Building, Architecture any bracket, esp. one of brick or stone, usually of slight extent.
2. Building, Biographical a short horizontal timber supporting a girder.

v.t. 

3. Building, Architecture to set (bricks, stones, etc.) so as to form a corbel or corbels (usually fol. by out).
4. Building, Architecture to support by means of a corbel or corbels.

• Medieval Latin corvellus, equivalent. to Latin corv(us) raven¹ + -ellus diminutive suffix
• Middle French
• late Middle English 1375–1425

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

corbel / ˈkɔːb^əl/ noun

1. Also called: truss a bracket, usually of stone or brick

verb ( -bels, -belling, -belled) ( -bels, -beling, -beled)

1. (transitive) to lay (a stone or brick) so that it forms a corbel

Etymology: 15th Century: from Old French, literally: a little raven, from Medieval Latin corvellus, from Latin corvus raven