Dictionary

westwork en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈwɛstwɜːk/ (Received-Pronunciation)

Etymology

Calque of German Westwerk, from German West (“west”) + Werk (“work”); equivalent to English west + -work.

Meanings

1. The vaulted monumental structure at the western end of a church constructed in some medieval styles, flanked by two towers and containing the entrance.
   • Facing the raised sanctuary over the vast crypt they also often erected at the west end of the nave a towerlike structure with vaulted stories, that we call the "westwork." 1987, Malcolm Quantrill, The Environmental Memory: Man and Architecture in the Landscape of Ideas, page 134:

Forms

Translations (5)

sv västverk (architectural feature) · fr massif occidental (architectural feature) · hu védmű (architectural feature) · fi länsikkö (architectural feature) · de Westwerk (architectural feature)