Triglyphus
τρίγλυφος
Triglyphus (τρίγλυφος, or -ον) is the name given to one of the alternating members of the frieze of the Doric order, the other being called METOPAE. The triglyph is divided by two vertical cuts (canaliculi) into three bars (μηροί, femina); hence its name. It also has a semi-canaliculus at each side. The canaliculi have in early specimens a curved or ogier termination; later they are included by straight lines. Properly there should be one triglyph over each column, and one over each intercolumnium in the Doric order; at the corners this arrangement is slightly modified, so that the triglyph may adjoin the corner of the building. The triglyph seems always to have been painted blue. Triglyphs are supposed to have originated from an imitation of the visible ends of projecting beams in a wooden structure (Vitr. 4.2, 4).
From William Smith (ed.), Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities. Text provided under a CC BY-SA license by Perseus Digital Library, http://www.perseus.tufts.edu, with funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities and Tufts University. Data accessed from https://github.com/PerseusDL/canonical-pdlrefwk/ on 17 October 2026.