spire
n. countablen. a tall, pointed structure on top of a building, especially a church. It looks like a very thin pyramid or cone reaching toward the sky.
n. a tapering conical or pyramidal structure on the top of a building, typically a church tower. Often used to provide a vertical emphasis in Gothic architecture.
The church spire is visible from miles away.
The architect designed a slender gold spire to crown the new cathedral, making it the tallest point in the city skyline.
Restoration of the medieval spire required specialized stonemasons who could navigate the narrow scaffolding while preserving the intricate carvings that had weathered centuries of wind and rain.
From Middle English spire, spyre, spier, spir, from Old English spīr, from Proto-Germanic spīrō, spīrǭ (“peak; point; tip; stalk”). Cognate with Dutch spier, German Low German Spier, German Spier, Spiere, Danish spir, Norwegian spir and spire, Swedish spira, Icelandic spíra.
From Old French spirer, and its source, Latin spīrō (“to breathe”).
From Middle French spire.
Commonly used in architectural descriptions; often paired with 'tapering' or 'slender'.