also called bull's-eye window; in architecture, a small circular or oval window, usually resembling a wheel, with glazing bars (bars framing the panes of glass) as spokes radiating outward from an empty hub, or circular centre. In French, oeil-de-boeuf means “eye of the steer.” http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9056796/oeil-de-boeuf-window
Oculus (pl. oculi) is the Latin word for eye, and the word remains in use in certain contexts, most commonly as the name of the round opening in the top of the dome of the Pantheon in Rome, Italy, and less often in reference to other round windows. The Oculus in the Pantheon is and has always been open to the weather, allowing rain to enter and fall to the floor, from where it is carried away through drains. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oculus
Response last updated by CmdrK on Jun 15 2021.
Nov 07 2007, 9:43 PM
davejacobs
Answer has 3 votes
davejacobs 22 year member
956 replies
Answer has 3 votes.
McGruff gives examples which are all circular windows, and many pediments do indeed contain such shaped windows.
But a window in a pediment does not have to be circular. The illustration for the definition of pediment shows a a semicircular one for instance. http://historicbuildingsct.com/?page_id=731
What is asked for is a word for a window in a certain position, ie within a pediment, rather than a certain shape. I confess I have failed to find such a word, unless it be a tympanum window.
Response last updated by satguru on Dec 29 2016.
Nov 08 2007, 2:05 AM
I thought that perhaps it had a specific name since it's a fairly common architectural feature-- around my part of the world, anyway-- and it bears a resemblance to the Eye of Providence ("deioculus," perhaps?):