balustrade
/ˌbæl.əˈstɹeɪd/
Etymology
Unadapted borrowing from French balustrade, from Italian balaustrata (“with balusters”), from balaustro (“baluster”), from balausta (“wild pomegranate flower”), via Latin balaustium, from Ancient Greek βαλαύστιον (balaústion), from Semitic, compare Classical Syriac ܒܠܳܨܳܐ (blāṣā, “pomegranate shoot”)). So named because of resemblance to the swelling form of the half-open pomegranate flower. Also see baluster.
balustrade means A row of balusters topped by a rail, serving as an open parapet, as along the edge of a balcony, terrace, bridge, staircase, or the eaves of a building. Lexicurio rates it Rare gem — a strength score of 75 out of 100.
Why this word is great
BALUSTRADE — [Noun] A row of balusters topped by a rail, serving as an open parapet along the edge of a balcony, terrace, bridge, or staircase. From French balustrade, from Italian balaustrata (“provided with balusters”), from balaustro (“baluster”), from balausta (“wild pomegranate flower”), via Latin balaustium, from Ancient Greek βαλαύστιον (balaústion), from a Semitic source (compare Syriac ܒܠܳܨܳܐ (blāṣā, “pomegranate shoot”)), named for the resemblance to the flower's swelling form. Unlike a generic “railing,” which merely bars passage, or a solid “parapet,” which wholly obscures, a balustrade is a measured composition of void and solid, an architecture of elegant hesitation. It is the wrought-iron arabesques guarding a Venetian canal, the alternating bars of shadow and light cast on a marble floor, the cool succession of stone pillars beneath a trailing hand—a civilized compromise between falling and being wholly enclosed.
noun
- A row of balusters topped by a rail, serving as an open parapet, as along the edge of a balcony, terrace, bridge, staircase, or the eaves of a building.“So on a pleasant morning, as he leant / Into the sun-rise, o’er the balustrade [...]”