Cornice

Webster's Dictionary

(n.) Any horizontal, molded or otherwise decorated projection which crowns or finishes the part to which it is affixed; as, the cornice of an order, pedestal, door, window, or house.

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

(Gr. κορώνις, a curved line), a horizontal moulded projection crowning the angle of a building or any of its parts, varying with the different orders and periods of architecture. In the early Gothic the cornice consisted of a corbel-table (q.v.). Later, a deep hollow, with a simple moulding (astragal) below, and one or more mouldings above, and with flowers, animals, or angels richly carved in the hollow, constituted the predominant feature. With the Renaissance the classical cornice returned.