Also 7–8 in-. [ad. (? through Fr.; see quot. 1611) It. intavolatura, f. intavolare, f. in in + tavola table.]
1. Arch. That part of an order which is above the column; including the architrave, the frieze, and the cornice.
1611. Cotgr., Entablature, an intablature.
1664. Evelyn, trans. Freart’s Archit., xiv. 38. The Entablature [orig. Fr. entablement] (that is to say, Architrave, Freeze, and Cornice).
1726. Leoni, Alberti’s Archit., I. 13 b. Columns, Architraves, Intablatures, and Coverings.
1760. Gray, Corr. w. Nicholls (1843), 203. Large Corinthian columns of fine alabaster … bear up an entablature, and form a sort of canopy over it.
1841. W. Spalding, Italy & It. Isl., II. 223. In the classical orders, the entablature overpowered the columns.
1875. Merivale, Gen. Hist. Rome, lxxviii. (1877), 665. He [Catulus] was allowed to engrave his own name upon the entablature of the temple.
2. Mech. a. In the marine steam-engine: A strong iron frame supporting the paddle-shaft. b. The platform that supports the capstan.
1867. Times, 23 Jan., 10. Among other repairs … has been that of the engine entablature, which was split across.
1886. J. M. Caulfeild, Seamanship Notes, 3. Parts of the Capstan … Throw off, spindle, entablature.
