ARCHIVAULT, in architecture, the inner contour of an arch; or a band or frame adorned with moldings, running over the faces of the arch-stones, and resting upon the imposts. See ARCH, VAULT, IMPOST, etc.
It is different in the various orders—in the Tuscan, it has only a single face; two faces crowned in the Doric and Ionic; and the same moldings with the Architrave in the Corinthian and Composite.
The word is French, archivolte, where it signifies the same thing.
