# Lancet window

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A **lancet window** is a tall, narrow [window](/source/Window) with a sharp pointed arch at its top.[1] This arch may or may not be a steep lancet arch (in which the compass centres for drawing the arch fall outside the opening). It acquired the "lancet" name from its resemblance to a [lance](/source/Lance).[2] Instances of this architectural element are typical of [Gothic](/source/Gothic_architecture) [church](/source/Church_architecture) edifices of the earliest period. Lancet windows may occur singly, or paired under a single moulding, or grouped in an odd number with the tallest window at the centre.

The lancet window first appeared in the early [French Gothic](/source/French_Gothic_architecture) period (c. 1140–1200), and later in the [Early English](/source/Early_English_(architecture)) period of Gothic architecture (1200–1275). So common was the lancet window feature that this era is sometimes known as the "Lancet Period".[3]

The term *lancet window* is properly applied to single-light windows of austere form, without [tracery](/source/Tracery). Paired windows were sometimes surmounted by a simple opening such as a [quatrefoil](/source/Quatrefoil) cut in [plate tracery](/source/Plate_tracery). This form gave way to the more ornate, multi-light traceried window.

## See also

- [Church window](/source/Church_window)
- [Monofora](/source/Monofora)
- [Polifora](/source/Polifora)

## References

1. [Buffalo Architecture](http://freenet.buffalo.edu/bah/a/DCTNRY/l/lancet.html) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20060905183913/http://freenet.buffalo.edu/bah/a/DCTNRY/l/lancet.html) 5 September 2006 at the Wayback Machine, Retrieved 24 October 2006

1. ["Lancet window | Gothic, Gothic Revival & Stained Glass | Britannica"](https://www.britannica.com/technology/lancet-window). *www.britannica.com*. Retrieved 2023-08-16.

1. Express, Britain. ["Gothic Architecture in England"](https://www.britainexpress.com/History/Gothic-architecture.htm). *Britain Express*. Retrieved 2023-08-16.

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Lancet window](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lancet_window) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lancet_window?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.