-vault-

n. [ OE. voute, OF. voute, volte, F. voûte, LL. volta, for voluta, volutio, fr. L. volvere, volutum, to roll, to turn about. See Voluble, and cf. Vault a leap, Volt a turn, Volute. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. (Arch.) An arched structure of masonry, forming a ceiling or canopy. [ 1913 Webster ]

The long-drawn aisle and fretted vault. Gray. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. An arched apartment; especially, a subterranean room, used for storing articles, for a prison, for interment, or the like; a cell; a cellar. “Charnel vaults.” Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

The silent vaults of death. Sandys. [ 1913 Webster ]

To banish rats that haunt our vault. Swift. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. The canopy of heaven; the sky. [ 1913 Webster ]

That heaven's vault should crack. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. [ F. volte, It. volta, originally, a turn, and the same word as volta an arch. See the Etymology above. ] A leap or bound. Specifically: -- (a) (Man.) The bound or leap of a horse; a curvet. (b) A leap by aid of the hands, or of a pole, springboard, or the like. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ The l in this word was formerly often suppressed in pronunciation. [ 1913 Webster ]

Barrel vault,
Cradle vault,
Cylindrical vault, or
Wagon vault (Arch.), a kind of vault having two parallel abutments, and the same section or profile at all points. It may be rampant, as over a staircase (see Rampant vault, under Rampant), or curved in plan, as around the apse of a church. --
Coved vault. (Arch.) See under 1st Cove, v. t. --
Groined vault (Arch.), a vault having groins, that is, one in which different cylindrical surfaces intersect one another, as distinguished from a barrel, or wagon, vault. --
Rampant vault. (Arch.) See under Rampant. --
Ribbed vault (Arch.), a vault differing from others in having solid ribs which bear the weight of the vaulted surface. True Gothic vaults are of this character. --
Vault light, a partly glazed plate inserted in a pavement or ceiling to admit light to a vault below. [ 1913 Webster ]