Alcove

For the community in Quebec, Canada, see Alcove, Quebec.

Drawing of an alcove.

Alcove in sandstone, near Moab, Utah.

Alcove ( /ælˈkoʊv/ or /ˈælkoʊv/; through the Spanish, alcoba, from the Arabic, al-, the, and qubbah(القبة), a vault) is an architectural term for a recess in a room, usually screened off by pillars, balustrades or drapery.

In geography and geology, the term Alcove is used for a wind-eroded depression in the side of a cliff of a homogenous rock type, famous from sandstones of the Colorado Plateau like the Navajo Sandstone.

References

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.