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The ArchitecturalDictionary
Abacus - a square or shaped block that helps support the entablature.
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Acanthus leaf - admired by the Greeks and Romans for the elegance of its leaves. Found on many classical designs such as the Corinthian and Composite columns 
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Adamesque - The Adam style (or Adamesque) is a style of neoclassical architecture and design as practised by Scottish architect Robert Adam (1728- 1792) and his brothers. The "Adam style" is identified with:
Roman style decorative motifs such as framed medallions, vases, urns and tripods, arabesque vine scrolls, sphinxes and gryphons.
Flat grotesque panels
Pilasters
Painted ornaments such as swags and ribbons
Complex color schemes amorino - found in Italian Renaissance art an amorino ("little love") is another name for a 'putto'.
The putto is a figure of a pudgy human baby, almost always male, often naked and having wings. click to enlarge 
Angel-lights - the upper panes of glass or "lights'" in a curved window frame, next to the springing.
Annulets - A ringlike molding underneath the capital of a pillar. There may be more than one.They are also called fillets or listels.
Antebellum is not a particular house style. Rather, it is a time and place in history. The features we associate with Antebellum architecture were introduced to the American South by Anglo-Americans who moved into the area after the Louisiana Purchase in 1803.
Ante-fixae - Vertical blocks which terminate the covering tiles of the roof of a Roman, Etruscan, or Greek temple; as spaced they take the place of the cymatium and form a cresting along the sides of the temple. The face of the ante-fixae was richly carved with the anthemion (palmette) ornament.
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arabesque - geometric intricate surface decoration; no human figures; has interlaced patterns. The arabesque is an elaborative application of repeating geometric forms that often echo the forms of plants and animals.click to enlarge
Architectonics- Architectonic is used to describe the art and science of building and construction. It refers to the sensibility to form and design, particularly to the preference of the simple over the complex, and the well-built over the mass-produced. Today, the word is used in a semiotic sense to refer to the use of parts as expressive signs that constitute the language system of the building.
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archivolt-an ornamental molding or band following the curve of the underside of an arch.
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Arris -an architectural term that describes the sharp edge formed by the intersection of two surfaces, such as the exterior corner of a masonry wall or the interior intersection of wall or wall/ceiling corner, or any intersection of architectural details. Also the raised edges which separate the flutings in a Doric column.
Articulation - the manner or method of jointing parts such that each part is clear and distinct in relation to the others, even though joined.
Art Nouveau -A style that encompassed art, architecture, and design. Popular from 1880-1914. It is characterised by highly-stylised, flowing, curvilinear designs often incorporating floral and other plant-inspired motifs.click to enlarge 
Astragal — semi-circular molding attached to one of a pair of doors to cover the air gap where the doors meet.
Atrium - A usually skylighted central area, often containing plants, in some modern buildings,
especially of a public or commercial nature.
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Baroque- a post-Renaissance style started in Italy and Spain, popular in Europe in the 1600s - 1750s. Baroque means “irregular, contorted, grotesque”. A time of grand scale where everything was grandeous and highly ornamented. The Rococo Period reflects style in its most extreme.
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BELT COURSE -
decorative horizontal band on building, usually composed of projecting and/or contrasting stone or brick.
Bungalow - A bungalow is of the Craftsman period of design.It is one or one-and-one-half stories high-low to the ground in appearance- has a rectangular or square shape- has deep roof overhangs and wide eaves- has a porch across the front- is integrated with natural materials, colors and forms.
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Cabled fluting — Convex circular molding sunk in the concave fluting of a classic column, and rising about one-third of the height of the shaft.
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Cable rope - A carved molding in stone or wood that looks like rope.
calendar house - A calendar house symbolically represents the numbers of days in a week, and weeks and months in a year with architectural elements. The architecturaldictionary
These are very rare. The Knole home, built between 1456 and 1486, situated close to Sevenoaks in north-west Kent, is reputed to be a calendar house, having 365 rooms, 52 staircases and 7 courtyards. CAMPANILE- Bell tower originating in Italy and and developed into the tower section of the Italianate style. Favoured in Canadian villas in the mid 19th century.
carcase floor-a regional term and perhaps unique to Virginia was the framing of the great-room floor, which had girders running from north to south, with smaller perpendicular members above and below them.
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Cathedral - The term cathedral refers to the function of a church, not its architectural style. A cathedral is a church that serves as a bishop’s headquarters, so to speak. It’s called a cathedral because it contains his cathedra (chair). The city in which the cathedral is located is the bishop’s see. In this usage, the word see comes from a Latin word meaning seat. The city is the bishop’s see in the sense that a city might be the seat of government.
Cavetto -a concave, quarter-round molding.
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cement board- A concrete board that is placed on a subsurface such as bathroom and kitchen counters and backslashes. Tile or aother finished materials are then glued or mortered to it. Cement board resists shifting and is impervious to water.
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Chair rail- A wooden molding placed horizontally on a wall to prevent chairs from damaging the wall. Typically used as a decorative effect on a wall to divide a painted lower section from a wallpapered upper section.
CHIMNEY STACK- the structure in stone. block, or brick, containing flues and rising above the roof.
Chin-beak — Concave quarter-round molding. There are few examples of this in ancient buildings, but is common in more recent times.
The architecturaldictionarycinquefoil- - in tracery, having five pendants in a circular ring; usually applied to windows and panels. quatrafoil - tracery constructed from four foils. trifoil - tracery in three foils.Corbel
Cladding- The outer skin of a building. A term used to describe the siding or materials covering the exterior of a building.
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Classical order- A classical order is one of the ancient styles of building design quickly recognizable by the type of column and capital employed. There are five recognized orders.
Clerestory-An upper portion of a wall containing windows for supplying natural light to a building.
Chamfer- A beveled edge usually at 45 degree to the face.
Chatri- A domed pavilion supported by columns at each corner
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CHIMNEY-PIECE -A mantelpiece, usually of wood or marble, that surrounds the sides and top of a fireplace opening.
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Collar Beam- a horizontal piece of timber connecting and tying together two opposite rafters. Commonly used as a ceiling joist.
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column-A supporting pillar consisting of a base, a cylindrical shaft, and a capital.There are three basic column styles for single-family homes, derived from ancient Greek architecture. The Doric column
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is the oldest and simplest Greek style--its found on the Parthenon in Athens. This column features fluted sides, a smooth rounded top, or capital, and no separate base.Ionic columns are identified by the scroll-shaped ornaments at the capital, which resemble a ram’s horns. The Ionic  column rests on a rounded base.Corinthian columns are the latest of the three Greek styles and show the influence of Egyptian columns in their capitals, which are shaped like inverted bells. Capitals are also decorated with olive, laurel, or acanthus leaves. Corinthian  columns rest on a base similar to that of the Ionic style
Coping- A flat cover of stone or brick that protects the top of a wall 
Corbel 
Cove molding or Coving— a concave-profile molding that is used at the junction of an interior wall and ceiling.
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Cyma- molding of double curvature, combining the convex ovolo and concave cavetto. When the concave part is uppermost, it is called a cyma recta but if the convex portion is at the top, it is called a cyma reversa.
Deconstructivism- also Deconstruction, is an approach to building design that attempts to view architecture in bits and pieces. The basic elements of architecture are dismantled. Deconstructivist buildings may seem to have no visual logic. They may appear to be made up of unrelated, disharmonious abstract forms.
DECOUPAGE- Decoupage, derived from the French word decouper, meaning to cut out,is the creative art of pasting, assembling and varnishing paper cutouts for accenting objects.
Dimensional lumber-
Dimensional lumber is a term used for lumber that is finished/planed and cut to standardized width and depth specified in inches.
Dimensional lumber is made from softwood is typically used for construction, while hardwood boards are more commonly used for making cabinets or furniture.
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Doric - The earliest and simplest of the orders of architecture developed by the Greeks and iderntified by its columns and architrave.
Dutch Gable-American- In portions of the United States and in Australia, dutch gable refers to a type of roofline style used on ranch-style houses that is a hybrid between a gable roof and a hip roof. Click to enlarge
Dutch Gable-European- Dutch gable, has multiple meanings depending on the region and the portion of a structure it is referring to.In European architecture the Dutch gable, also known as a Flemish gable, acts as an ornamental pediment to a wing or other architectural feature such as a projection in the facade. Curved,stepped or often both the Dutch gable was a notable feature of the Renaissance architecture.Click to enlarge
Conceptually it refers to the part of a sloping roof that overhangs the wall including the facia board(if any)and the soffit. 
ie: craftsman bungalows have very wide eaves with decorative brackets.
Eastlake1879-1905 New England - a style of ornamentation using numerously variegated Victorian designs including stick work, spindles and knobs, brackets, sawn scroll work, “free classical” detailing, Gothic additions, finials, roof cresting, towers and cupolas, oxbow, any number of scalloped styled siding. Click to enlarge image
Echinus - The echinus lies atop the necking. It is a circular block that bulges outwards towards the top in order to support the abacus
egg n’ dart moulding- (also leaf and dart, also alpha and omega - beginning and end) Classical ornamental design that forms a course of alternating oval shapes and arrows. Click to enlarge image
ELEVATION- A drawing or photograph that shows one face of a building. Click to enlarge image
engaged column - a column embedded in a wall and partly projecting from the surface of the wall, sometimes defined as semi or three-quarter detached. Rarely found in classical Greek architecture but frequently in Roman architecture.
Engaged columns are distinct from pilasters, which are ornamental and not structural.
ENTABLATURE - a major element of classical architecture, the superstructure of moldings and bands which lies horizontally above the columns, resting on their capitals. The entabulature is commonly divided into the architrave—the supporting member carried from column to column, pier or wall immediately above; the frieze—an unmolded strip that may or may not be ornamented; and the cornice, the projecting member below the pediment.
entasis- slight convex curve applied to columns in Classical architecture to counter the illusion that would otherwise occur of the columns being slightly concave.
Expressionist architecture
-paralleling the expressionist visual and performing arts during the first decades of the 20th century, expressionistic architecture is the concept of architecture as a work of art.
Some of the qualities of the original movement are distortion, fragmentation or the communication of violent or overstressed emotion. These are communicated in architecture as unusual combinations of mass, angular definitions, and even polymorphic structure.
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Fish Scale Shingles -On Victorian and Queen Anne buildings, fish scale shingles were used extensively as a finishing element. These are generally wood and are most frequently found on the gable or upper section of the buildings.
Felt Paper - A black building paper used to cover roof boards and sheathing to help control moisture and wind infiltration. Also used to cover the subfloor before hardwood flooring.
Filligree- In architecture it may be said to consist of the art of curling, twisting, or creating the effect of the same, with wood in a decorative effect. Small and/or large beads or geometric shaped woods are often applied on the junctions, or at intervals at which they will set off the work effectively. The more delicate work is generally built in frameworks and used in interior archways as fretwork.
Flying buttress- a structural feature employed to transmit the thrust of a vault across an intervening space, such as an aisle, chapel or cloister, to a buttress built outside the latter. The employment of the flying buttress meant that the rules regarding load bearing walls could be expanded, thus allowing for great flexibility in design and purpose.
Framing-The structural wooden or steel members, or the act of building, that provide structure and definition to a house or building.
Fractable-A decorated gable end carried above the roofline. A fractal is generally "a rough or fragmented geometric shape that can be subdivided in parts, each of which is approximately a reduced-size copy of the whole
FRENCH WINDOW-A window that opens to the floor in two hinged parts.Click to enlarge image
Fret-A wall or cornice decoration that is formed by small fillets intersecting each other at right angles.
fretwork spandrels- Decorative pieces made with intricate cutwork and joined with Ball & Dowel or Spindle sections.
frieze- In new construction it is the board that runs horizontally and butts against and underneath the bottom of the soffit.
Inclassical construction it is usually quite ornate. It is the middle division of an entablature, below the cornice. 
FRONTISPIECE-The principal bay of a building. In architecture, a frontispiece constitutes the elements that frame and decorate the main, or front, door to a building; especially when the main entrance is the chief face of the building, rather than being kept behind columns or a portico.
frustum- a truncated cone or pyramid; the part that is left when a cone or pyramid is cut by a plane parallel to the base and the apical part is removed.
The upper part of a Doric column. 
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 Gable decoration - Also know as Gingerbread it is the decorative woodwork applied under the eaves or at the bargeboard level at the apex of a gable end. Also refers to decorative bargeboards.
GadrooningIt is derived from the French word 'godron', which means 'ruffle'.
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In furniture and other interior accessories, the term applies to an ornamental carved band of tapered, curving and alternating concave and convex sections usually diverging from either side of a central point. often with rounded ends vaguely reminiscent of flower petals. It was widely used during the Italian Renaissance. 
Gallows bracket- A rather simple bracing bracket that is quite commonly used.
Gambrel- A roof where each side has two slopes; a steeper lower slope and a flatter upper one; a 'barn roof'. Often found in Colonial revival houses in the "Dutch" style.
Georgian architecture-the architectural period between 1720 and 1840. It was concurrent with the British monarchs George I-IV, who reigned in continuous succession from August 1714 to June 1830.
gingerbread- a word to describe any kind of decoration on a home found in such places as the gables, vergeboards, porches, eaves, and around windows or doors. Made famous by the Victorian era.
Girder - A strong, wooden or metal member spanning foundation walls designed to support joist ends. Steel girders often have an I beam cross section for strength. Girder is the term used to denote the main horizontal support of a structure and usually supports smaller beams.
Girder 
Gluelam beam - also called glue-laminated beams or Glulam, is a structural timber product composed of several layers of dimensioned lumber glued together. By laminating several smaller pieces of wood, a single large, strong, structural member can be manufactured from smaller timber. Laminated beams can be used as vertical columns, horizontal beams, or as often seen in contemporary churches, as arched ceiling beams.
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The Golden Ratio - In mathematics and the arts, two quantities are in the golden ratio if the ratio between the sum of those quantities and the larger one is the same as the ratio between the larger one and the smaller. The golden ratio is approximately 1.6. Click to enlarge image
Gothic Revival - The style that was the beginning of the Victorian Age. The elements are based on architectural ideas from the Middle Ages and was popular in the 1830s and 40s. Gothic Revival buildings a featured pointed or lancet doorways and windows, spire, and vertical features. Click to enlarge image
Greek key-A carved Classical geometric decoration resembling a maze, and repeated in bands. Composed of interlocking straight and right-angled lines it is a
common decorative elements in Greek art and Roman art appearing on everything from pottery to tapasterys. The architectural decorations were used extensively on friezes. Although it is a conjecture it is thought that the patern symbolized infinity and unity.
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Greek Revival- an architectural movement of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. A phase of Neoclassicism that spread the idea of “noble simplicity and calm grandeur." The style was looked on as the expression of local nationalism and civic virtue.
green man - an ancient symbol of man's deep connection to nature; a decorative Gothic carving characterized by a human face sprouting foliage. The Green Man motif has many different faces and variations and is found in many cultures around the world,
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Guilloche- an architectural decoration formed by two interlaced wavy bands forming a pattern of circles or loops. This may be found in carved wood trim mold, tile and stone carvings.
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Half-timbering- Having a wooden framework, often exposed, with plaster, brick, stone, or other masonry filling the spaces.
Half-timbering
Hardboard- also called high-density fiberboard, is a type of fiberboard, which is an engineered wood panel. It is usually seen 1/8" - 1/4" thick. It is similar to particle board and medium-density fiberboard, but is much harder, denser, and heavier because it is made out of exploded, highly compressed wood fibers. It is usually called masonite because that was the first brand to be marketed in the U.S.
It has no grain and little structural strength.
It is usually used as a substrate to veneers, vinyl, amd laminate and in its thin width as backing for furniture and cabinetry.
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Hearth- The floor of a fireplace, usually extending into a room and paved with brick, flagstone, or cement. Hearth
high-density polyurethane- rigid foam can be made with the use of specialty trimerization catalysts which create cyclic structures within the foam matrix, giving a harder, more thermally stable structure, designated as polyisocyanurate foams. Such properties are desired in rigid foam products used in the construction sector.(Wikipedia-Polyurethane)
Hyphen - a connecting piece between two larger masses of a building. It's most commonly used when referring to Colonial-era houses - especially the Georgian style. The masses connected to the main house by the hyphens are called dependencies.
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Inlay -in which the secondary material is sunk into portions of a solid ground cut out to receive it. The architecturaldictionary
imbrication - As with wood shingle siding- the covering with a design in which one element covers a part of another by overlapping.Click to enlarge The architecturaldictionary
infill - any material used to fill a void in a structure. For ex. glass panels used as an infill between timber posts. The architecturaldictionary
wattle and daub was probably the original infill. Also used in Urbanism as the reclamation of unused land, particularly the reuse and redevelopment of low use property within an existing community or development.
Inglenook - A bench, especially either of two facing
benches, placed in a nook or corner beside a
fireplace.
intarsia - Intarsia is a form of wood inlaying that is similar to marquetry. intarsia is created by selecting different types of wood for their natural grain patterns and colors to create the picture. Each piece of wood is then individually cut , shaped, and sanded.Click to enlarge image
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intercolumniation - in classical architecture, the clear space between the edges of two adjacent columns, as measured at the lower portion of their shafts. Intercolumniation is expressed in terms of the column diameter. The architecturaldictionary
Ionic Order - The second of the three Greek architectural orders to be developed. Ionic columns are generally more tall and slender than those of the Doric. The spiral scrolls, or volutes, at either side of the cap run from front to rear, and an echinus molding with egg-and-dart ornamentation occupies the space between them. Ionic columns incorporate a column base, and volutes can be seen in their capitals.
Italian Renaissance - begining the opening phase of the Renaissance and popular in 1800s-1920s in America. This is a revival architecture inspired by the great Renaissance houses of Italy. Many of these design features were copied from actual Renaissance landmarks of Roman, Florentine, and Venetian pillazzis and villas, and then translated into American palaces, primarily in our cities.
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Jamb - Jamb - The vertical members of a window or door frame.Click to enlarge image
Jenkins-head roof - A gabled roof with its apex truncated by a small hipped roof.
Joist - A beam supporting a floor or ceiling. Wood framing members, usually set 16" apart on center, carefully chosen to support all "live" and "dead" loads.
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Joist Hanger - A formed sheet steel device that anchor floor framing members that meet at right angles. Joist Hanger
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