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| The entrance porch or chamber before the nave of a church. The purpose of the narthex was to allow those not eligible for admittance into the general congregation to hear and partake in the service. The narthex would often include a baptismal font. |
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| In a basilican church, the space where transepts (north and south arms), nave (west) and choir (east) intersect. The crossing is sometimes surmounted by a tower or dome. |
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| The north and south arms of a basilican church. |
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| In Gothic churches, the narrow passage below the clerestory corresponding to the lean-to roof over the aisle. |
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| Windows placed high in a wall, generally above lower roof elements. |
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| The termination of the nave of the basilica or the choir in the basilican church. The apse is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome. |
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| An arched ceiling or roof of brick or stone. |
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| In medieval fortifications, a corbeled stone gallery projecting in front of a defensive wall, open at the bottom to allow materials (molten lead, boiling oil, and missiles) to be dropped on those below. |
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| A raised molding applied to the arris of a vault. Ribs generally project from the under surface of the vault. |
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| The narthex, chapels, and towers set at the entrance end of churches of the Carolingian and later periods. |
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| In Gothic architecture, the combination of external buttress pier and slender arch, which attaches to a wall just below the springing of the vaulting in order to resist lateral thrust. |
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| The basement level of a church, originally used for burial. |
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| A basilican church where the nave and aisles are of similar height. |
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| A tower with windows rising above the roofline or above the oculus of a dome. |
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| A panel, generally semicircular, over the lintel and under the arch of a doorway. Also, the central triangle of a pediment. |
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