tower

tower¹

—towerless, adj. —towerlike, adj.

/tow"euhr/, n.

1. a building or structure high in proportion to its lateral dimensions, either isolated or forming part of a building.

2. such a structure used as or intended for a stronghold, fortress, prison, etc.

3. any of various fully enclosed fireproof housings for vertical communications, as staircases, between the stories of a building.

4. any structure, contrivance, or object that resembles or suggests a tower.

5. a tall, movable structure used in ancient and medieval warfare in storming a fortified place.

6. a vertical case designed to house a computer system standing on the floor.

7. Aviation. See control tower.

8. tower of strength, a person who can be relied on for support, aid, or comfort, esp. in times of difficulty.

v.i.

9. to rise or extend far upward, as a tower; reach or stand high: The skyscraper towers above the city.

10. to rise above or surpass others: She towers above the other students.

11. Falconry. (of a hawk) to rise straight into the air; to ring up.

[bef. 900; (n.) ME tour, earlier tur, tor < OF < L turris < Gk týrris, var. of týrsis tower; ME tor perh. in some cases continuing OE torr < L turris, as above; (v.) late ME touren, deriv. of the n.]

tower²

/toh"euhr/, n.

a person or thing that tows.

[1485-95; TOW¹ + -ER¹]

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I

Any freestanding or attached structure that is relatively tall in proportion to its base.

The Romans, Byzantines, and medieval Europeans built defensive towers as part of the fortifications of their city walls (e.g., the Tower of London). Indian temple architecture uses towers of various types (e.g., the sikhara). Towers were an important feature of churches and cathedrals built in the Romanesque and Gothic periods. Some Gothic church towers were designed to carry a spire; others had flat roofs. The Italian campanile could either be attached to a church or freestanding. The use of towers declined somewhat during the Renaissance but reappeared in Baroque architecture. The use of steel frames enabled buildings to reach unprecedented heights; the Eiffel Tower in Paris was the first structure to reveal the true vertical potential of steel construction.

II

(as used in expressions)

Babel Tower of

Devils Tower National Monument

Eiffel Tower

Leaning Tower of Pisa

Sears Tower

Tower of London

Tower Joan

Petronas Towers

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▪ architecture

      any structure that is relatively tall in proportion to the dimensions of its base. It may be either freestanding or attached to a building or wall. Modifiers frequently denote a tower's function (e.g., watchtower, water tower, church tower, and so on).

 Historically, there are several types of structures particularly implied by the name. Defensive towers served as platforms from which a defending force could rain missiles down upon an attacking force. The Romans, Byzantines, and medieval Europeans built such towers along their city walls and adjoining important gates. The Romans and other peoples also used offensive, or siege, towers, as raised platforms for attacking troops to overrun high city walls. Military towers often gave their name to an entire fortress; the Tower of London (London, Tower of), for example, includes the entire complex of buildings contiguous with the White Tower of William I the Conqueror.

 Towers were an important feature of the churches and cathedrals built during the Romanesque and Gothic periods. Some Gothic church towers were designed to carry a spire, while others had flat roofs. Many church towers were used as belfries, though the most famous campanile, or bell tower, the Leaning Tower of Pisa (1174), is a freestanding structure. In civic architecture, towers were often used to hold clocks, as in many hotels de ville (town halls) in France and Germany. The use of towers declined somewhat during the Renaissance but reappeared in the more flamboyant Baroque architecture of the 17th and 18th centuries.

 The use of steel frames enabled buildings to reach unprecedented heights in the late 19th and 20th centuries; the Eiffel Tower (1889) in Paris was the first structure to reveal the true vertical potential of steel construction. The ubiquity of modern skyscrapers has robbed the word tower of most of its meaning, though the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, the Sears Tower in Chicago, and other skyscrapers still bear the term in their official names.

 In 2007 the world's tallest freestanding building was Taipei 101 (2003; the Taipei Financial Centre), 1,667 feet (508 metres) tall, in Taiwan. The tallest supported structure is a 2,063-foot (629-metre) stayed television broadcasting tower, completed in 1963 and located between Fargo and Blanchard, N.D., U.S.

 

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