1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Pendant

PENDANT (through Fr. from Lat. pendere, to hang), any hanging object, such as a jewel or other ornament hanging from a brooch, bracelet, &c, or the loose end of a knight’s belt left hanging after passing through the buckle, and terminating in an ornamental end. In architecture the word is applied to an elongated boss, either moulded or foliated, such as hangs down from the intersection of ribs, especially in fan tracery, or at the end of hammer beams Sometimes long corbels, under the wall pieces, have been so called. The name has also been given to the large masses depending from enriched ceilings, in the later works of the Pointed style. “Pendants” or “Pendent posts” are those timbers which are carried down the side of the wall from the plate, and receive the hammer braces.