Entăsis
(
ἔντασις), called by Vitruvius
adiectio. An architectural term applied to the swelling in a column from the lower end
to a certain point, after which a diminution takes place to the
hypotrachelium, which forms part of the capital. In some ancient columns, as at Assos,
the entasis is much exaggerated; in others, as at Corinth, it is entirely absent.
![](http://images.perseus.tufts.edu/images/thumbs/1999.04.1/1999.04.0062.fig00595) |
Entasis. (From Doric Columns at Paestum.)
|
Examples of the absence and presence of entasis are represented in the illustration: from
the great temple at Paestum (to left), from a later building in the same city (to right).