Editing Dado (architecture)

{{Short description|Architectural element}}
{{For|the joinery term|Dado (joinery)}}
{{Other uses|Dado (disambiguation){{!}}Dado}}
[[File:Wall.svg|thumb|right|alt=Wall.svg|Diagram of a wall<br />{{leftlegend|#e88200|[[crown moulding]]}} {{leftlegend|#00cf40|[[dado rail]]}} {{leftlegend|#d9d04c|dado}} {{leftlegend|#664fe1|[[skirting board]]}} ]]

In [[architecture]], the '''dado''' is the lower part of a wall,<ref>{{cite dictionary | url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dado | title=Dado - definition | dictionary=[[Merriam-Webster]] | access-date=March 10, 2013}}</ref> below the [[dado rail]] and above the [[skirting board]]. The word is borrowed from Italian meaning "dice" or "cube",<ref name=lexico>{{cite web |url=https://www.lexico.com/definition/dado |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210920204654/https://www.lexico.com/definition/dado |url-status=dead |archive-date=September 20, 2021 |title=Dado|work=Lexico }}</ref> and refers to "[[wikt:die|die]]", an architectural term for the middle section of a [[pedestal]] or [[plinth]].<ref name=chitam>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W_0rBgAAQBAJ&pg=PT209 |title=The Classical Orders of Architecture |first= Robert |last=Chitham |publisher=Routledge |date=2007|isbn=9781136358951 }}</ref>

==Decorative treatment==
This area is given a decorative treatment different from that for the upper part of the wall; for example [[panelling]], [[wainscoting]] or [[lincrusta]]. The purpose of the dado treatment to a wall is both aesthetic and functional. Historically, the panelling below the [[dado rail]] was installed to cover the lower part of the wall which was subject to stains associated with rising damp; additionally it provided protection from furniture and passing traffic. The dado rail itself is sometimes referred to as a chair rail, though this can be misleading since its function is principally aesthetic and not to protect the wall from chair backs.

==Derivation==
[[File:CimetiereRD02.JPG|thumb|upright|Dado meaning the middle section or main body of a pedestal]]

The name was first used in English as an [[architectural terms|architectural term]] for the part of a pedestal between the base and the [[cornice (architecture)|cornice]]. As with many other architectural terms, the word is Italian in origin. The dado in a pedestal is roughly cubical in shape, and the word in Italian means "dice" or "cube" (ultimately Latin ''[[wikt:datum|datum]]'', meaning "something given", hence also a die for [[Cleromancy|casting lots]]).<ref name=lexico /><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jeeGAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA168 |title=An Etymological Dictionary of the English Language |first= Walter W.|last= Skeat |date=15 February 2013 |pages=152, 168–169|publisher=Courier Corporation |isbn=9780486317656 }}</ref> By extension, the dado becomes the lower part of a wall when the pedestal is treated as being continuous along the wall, with the cornice becoming the dado rail.<ref name=chitam />

==Gallery==
<gallery widths="200px" heights="160px">
File:Spring Hall Halifax 029.jpg|Dado in carved oak, designed by [[William Swinden Barber|W. S. Barber]] at [[Spring Hall, Halifax]]
File:Château de Maisons-Laffitte - cabinet aux miroirs 05.JPG|Dado in a French chateau
File:TajDado.jpg|Dado in [[Taj Mahal]]
File:Leeds Central Library 21 February 2019 (208).JPG|Dado in [[Leeds Central Library]]
</gallery>

==See also==
* [[Dado (joinery)]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{Commons category inline}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Columns and entablature]]
[[Category:Types of wall]]