What does edifice mean?
Word: Edifice
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Edifice means a very large building that looks impressive.
How do you spell edifice?
Syllables: ed - i - fice
Tricky part: The end sounds like 'fiss', so pupils write edifise or edifiss, but it is spelt -fice.
Watch out for: edifise, edifiss
Memory tip: An edifice may be full of offices, and office ends with the same four letters.
Edifice in a sentence
Example 1: The old town hall is the grandest edifice in Mysuru.
Example 2: Rashtrapati Bhavan is an edifice that visitors photograph from every angle.
Example 3: Engineers spent ten years on the glass edifice beside the river.
Fun Fact
Writers also use edifice for a large system built up over time, such as the edifice of modern science, as if ideas were stacked like bricks.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Cookie
Find the misspelt word in the sentence:
On our heritage walk through Kolkata, the guide stopped outside a grand old edefice and told us that it had once been the busiest post office in the whole region.
a) edefice
b) region
c) guide
d) heritage
Show answer
a) edefice. An i comes straight after the d.
Word Connection
Choose the synonym of the word edifice as used in the sentence:
The new museum is a magnificent edifice of white marble.
a) courtyard
b) structure
c) garden
d) fountain
Show answer
b) structure. An edifice is something built, so structure fits; a garden, a fountain and a courtyard are not buildings.
Mingle-Mangle
Rearrange the jumbled letters in the sentence to form the right word:
The old railway station is a grand ifeicde with tall arches.
a) edifice
b) artifice
c) edition
d) deceive
Show answer
a) edifice. Every other option needs a letter that is missing from the jumble.
Spell-o-Spell
Three words in the list are correct. Choose the meaning of the one that is not.
1. monument 2. skyscraper 3. pallace 4. edifice
a) a very tall city building
b) something built in honour of a person or event
c) a big, imposing building
d) the official home of a ruler
Show answer
d) the official home of a ruler. Palace has just one l.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Which building below would best be called an edifice?
a) a small wooden tool shed
b) a roadside tea stall
c) a tent for a weekend camp
d) a great domed parliament building
Show answer
d) a great domed parliament building
2. Why would a writer choose edifice rather than house?
a) to suggest something cheap and plain
b) to suggest something old and broken
c) to suggest something large and grand
d) to suggest something small and cosy
Show answer
c) to suggest something large and grand
