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cu·po·la (kypə-lə)
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n.
1. Architecture
a. A vaulted roof or ceiling.
b. A small dome set on a circular or polygonal base or resting on pillars.
c. A small structure surmounting a roof or dome, often used as a lookout or to admit light and air.
2. A cylindrical shaft type of blast furnace used for remelting metals, usually iron, before casting.
3. A small rounded and domed structure, as for observation, on a tracked, armored vehicle.
[Italian, from Late Latin cūpula, diminutive of Latin cūpa, tub; possibly akin to various words denoting hollow objects across Eurasia, such as Greek kupellon, drinking vessel, goblet, Old Norse húfr, hull of a ship, Old English hȳf, skep, and Sanskrit kūpaḥ, hole.]
cupo·laed (kypə-ləd) adj.
(click for a larger image)
cupola
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2020 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
 

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

    Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

    Indo-European Roots

    Semitic Roots

    The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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