Arch. [f. Gr. θόλ-ος THOLUS + -βατης one who goes, f. βαίνειν to go.] (See quots.)
1831. Hosking, in Encycl. Brit. (ed. 2), I. 471/1. Tholobate,… that on which a dome or cupola rests…. A term not in general use…. What is generally termed the attic above the peristyle and under the cupola of St. Paul’s, would be correctly designated the tholobate. A tholobate of a different description … is the circular substructure to the cupola of the London University.
1838. Britton, Dict. Archit., 457.
1845. Parker, Gloss. Archit. (ed. 4), Tholobate, the substructure on which a dome or cupola rests.
