Dictionary

cupola en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio
• /ˈkjuːpələ/ (UK, US)
• /ˈkupələ/ (US)
• /ˈkjupəloʊ/ (US, dialectal)

Etymology

Borrowed from Italian cupola, from Latin cūpula (“little tub”); from Latin cūpa, cuppa (“cup”); named for its resemblance to a cup turned over. Doublet of cupula.

Meanings

1. A dome-shaped ornamental structure located on top of a larger roof or dome.
   • the light falling dimly through the foggy cupola. 1886, Robert Louis Stephenson, The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde:
   • The stations on the City & South London were small but pretty, with cupolas to accommodate the winding gear of the small and claustrophobic hydraulic lifts. 2012, Andrew Martin, Underground Overground: A passenger's history of the Tube, Profile Books, →ISBN, page 101:
2. (qualifier:railroad) A small turret, usually on a hatch of an armoured fighting vehicle.
3. An upward-projecting mass of plutonic rock extending from a larger batholith.
4. A solid formed by joining two polygons, one (the base) with twice as many edges as the other, by an alternating band of isosceles triangles and rectangles.
5. A type of furnace used for smelting.
   • Cast iron produced in a cupola possesses the following advantages : The cost of melting is low. The control of chemical composition is better. Temperature control is easier. Molten metals can be tapped from the cupola at regular intervals. 2009, S.K. Garg, Comprehensive Workshop Technology, →ISBN, page 260:
   • The cupola has a small cylindrical chimney-like bore that is lined with a refractory material. 2008, Matthew Stein, When Technology Fails, →ISBN:
6. A small cap over a structure that is shaped like a dome or inverted cup.
   • From each anterior cupola there projects forwards the processus prenasalis lateralis inferior. 1937, Sir Gavin De Beer, The Development of the Vertebrate Skull, page 180:
   • The cupola of the lung is mostly medial and posterior to the vein as it begins to course deeper into the thorax (Fig. 5.7). 2015, Charles E. Smith, Trauma Anesthesia, →ISBN, page 85:
   • the posterior cupola of the cartilaginous nasal capsule
7. (Canada, dated) a small viewing window in the top of the caboose for looking over the train, or the part of the caboose where one looks through this window.
8. A body of members of the Sicilian Mafia who make decisions and settle disputes.

Forms

Deriveds

cupolaed · bicupola · cupolar · cupolaman

Translations (41)

el θόλος (architecture: dome-shaped ornamental structure) · mk ку́пола (architecture: dome-shaped ornamental structure) · cs kopule (architecture: dome-shaped ornamental structure) · ar قُبَّة (architecture: dome-shaped ornamental structure) · pl wieżyczka (military: small turret) · ru свод (architecture: dome-shaped ornamental structure) · ota قبه (architecture: dome-shaped ornamental structure) · pl kopuła (architecture: dome-shaped ornamental structure) · el τρούλλος (architecture: dome-shaped ornamental structure) · ja キューポラ (architecture: dome-shaped ornamental structure) · fr dôme (architecture: dome-shaped ornamental structure) · ro cupolă (architecture: dome-shaped ornamental structure) · zza qub (architecture: dome-shaped ornamental structure) · cmn 穹顶 (architecture: dome-shaped ornamental structure) · es cúpula (architecture: dome-shaped ornamental structure) · nl koepel (military: small turret) · gl cúpula (architecture: dome-shaped ornamental structure) · fi kupoli (architecture: dome-shaped ornamental structure) · nl koepel (architecture: dome-shaped ornamental structure) · ota طارم (architecture: dome-shaped ornamental structure) · de Kuppel (architecture: dome-shaped ornamental structure) · hy գմբեթ (architecture: dome-shaped ornamental structure) · hu kupola (architecture: dome-shaped ornamental structure) · ko 큐폴라 (architecture: dome-shaped ornamental structure) · kk күмбез (architecture: dome-shaped ornamental structure) · pt redoma (architecture: dome-shaped ornamental structure) · bg бойна кула (military: small turret) · el πυργίσκος (military: small turret) · ota كنبد (architecture: dome-shaped ornamental structure) · ba көмбәҙ (architecture: dome-shaped ornamental structure) · ca cúpula (architecture: dome-shaped ornamental structure) · az günbəz (architecture: dome-shaped ornamental structure) · ru ба́шня (military: small turret) · nog куьмбез (architecture: dome-shaped ornamental structure) · bg купол (architecture: dome-shaped ornamental structure) · ru ку́пол (architecture: dome-shaped ornamental structure) · zza holek (military: small turret) · it cupola (architecture: dome-shaped ornamental structure) · uk ку́пол (architecture: dome-shaped ornamental structure) · pt cúpula (architecture: dome-shaped ornamental structure) · fr coupole (architecture: dome-shaped ornamental structure)