pediment: Meaning and Definition of

ped•i•ment

1. (in classical architecture) a low gable, typically triangular with a horizontal cornice and raking cornices, surmounting a colonnade, an end wall, or a major division of a façade.
2. any imitation of this, often fancifully treated, used to crown an opening, a monument, etc., or to form part of a decorative scheme.
3. a gently sloping rock surface at the foot of a steep slope, as of a mountain, usually thinly covered with alluvium.