Buttress

Fun Fact

“Buttress” comes from the Old French “bouterez,” meaning “to thrust against.” The architectural buttress was one of the most revolutionary innovations of medieval cathedral building, first appearing in its fully developed form during the Gothic period (12th century). Flying buttresses – external supports that seem to float in the air – allowed medieval builders to create soaring cathedral walls filled with stained glass windows, something previously impossible with traditional architecture. Interestingly, medieval masons kept the mathematics of buttress construction highly secret, passing the knowledge only to approved apprentices through an oral tradition. The word gained metaphorical meaning during the Renaissance, when writers began using it to describe non-physical forms of support. In medieval universities, students would use the term “buttressing” to describe the practice of supporting arguments with multiple sources – a practice still essential in academic writing today. The evolution from architectural term to metaphorical usage demonstrates how language often adapts concrete concepts to express abstract ideas.