Ogive - Encyclopedia

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES

OGIVE (a French term, of which the origin is obscure; auge, trough, from Lat. augere, to increase, and an Arabic astrological word for the "highest point," have been suggested as derivations), a term applied in architecture to the diagonal ribs of a vault. In France the name is generally given to the pointed arch, which has resulted in its acceptance as a title for Gothic architecture, there often called "le style ogival."