Arch. Also 8 -vault. [ad. It. archivolto, arcovolta (or F. archivolte, with ch soft), f. arco:—L. arcus arch + volta VAULT, arch, volto arched. Archivoltum is found in med.L.] The under curve or inner contour of an arch, from impost to impost; the band of moldings that ornaments this curve.
1731. in Bailey.
1761. J. Kirby, Perspect. Archit., 11. Archivaults always fall upon the impost.
1823. Nicholson, Pract. Builder, 311. When they [architraves] traverse the curve of an arch, they are called archivolts.
1862. Rawlinson, Fire Gt. Mon., I. vi. 360. Spanned by an arch above, the archivolte being covered with enamelled bricks.
