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Baluster vs Newel - What's the difference?

baluster | newel |

In architecture terms the difference between baluster and newel

is that baluster is   A short column used in a group to support a rail, as commonly found on the side of a stairway; a banister while newel is a sturdy pillar at the top or bottom of a flight of stairs, supporting the handrail.

baluster

English

(wikipedia baluster)

Alternative forms

* balustre (Commonwealth)

Noun

(en noun)
  • (architecture)  A short column used in a group to support a rail, as commonly found on the side of a stairway; a banister.
  • * {{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham)
    • , title=(The China Governess) , chapter=3 citation , passage=Sepia Delft tiles surrounded the fireplace, their crudely drawn Biblical scenes in faded cyclamen blending with the pinkish pine, while above them, instead of a mantelshelf, there was an archway high enough to form a balcony with slender balusters and a tapestry-hung wall behind.}}

    Synonyms

    * banister

    Related terms

    * balustrade

    newel

    English

    (wikipedia newel)

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) nuel, (etyl) nuel, of uncertain origin.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (architecture) A central pillar around which a staircase spirals.
  • (architecture) A sturdy pillar at the top or bottom of a flight of stairs, supporting the handrail.
  • * 1943 , (Raymond Chandler), The High Window , Penguin 2005, p. 238:
    • We went along the hall to the end and up a flight of stairs with a carved handrail and newel post.
    Synonyms
    * (central pillar of a staircase spiral) spindle

    Etymology 2

    From .

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (obsolete) A novelty; a new thing.
  • * 1882 : (Alexander Balloch Grosart, ed) The Complete Works in Verse and Prose of Edmund Spenser
    • He was so enamoured with the newel .