A cornice is the uppermost division of the entablature, the representative of the roof, of an order, consisting of projecting mouldings and blocks, usually divisible into bed-moulding, corona, and gutter. In classic architecture each of the orders has its peculiar cornice. Any moulded projection which crowns or finishes the part to which it is affixed, as the coping of a façade, the moulding that runs round an apartment under the ceiling, or surmounts a door, window, etc.
ANDERSON AND SPIERS, Arch. of Greece and Rome (London, 1903); ROSENGARTEN, Architectural Styles (New York, 1901); REBER, Ancient Art (New York, London, 1904); STURGIS, Dict. of Arch. and Building (New York, 1904); PARKER, Glossary of Arch. (London, 1845); GWILT, Ency. of Arch. (New York, Bombay, 1903).