— pedimental /ped'euh men"tl/ , adj. — pedimented /ped"euh men'tid, -meuhn-/ , adj.
/ped"euh meuhnt/ , n.
1. (in classical architecture) a low gable, typically triangular with a horizontal cornice and raking cornices, surmounting a colonnade, an end wall, or a major division of a façade.
2. any imitation of this, often fancifully treated, used to crown an opening, a monument, etc., or to form part of a decorative scheme.
3. Geol. a gently sloping rock surface at the foot of a steep slope, as of a mountain, usually thinly covered with alluvium.
[ 1655-65; earlier pedament, pedement, alter., by assoc. with L pes (s. ped- ) FOOT, of earlier peremint, perh. an unlearned alter. of PYRAMID; (def. 3) by construal as PEDI- + -MENT ]