soffit

Updated: May 3, 2025

The opposite vaulting shafts, in the aisle walls, are brought forward, beyond the line of the rest, to meet the pillars in question; so that the arch across the aisles is, in this part, very much contracted, and, instead of being a mere groin rib, like the rest, is a strong moulded arch of considerable depth in the soffit.

W. D. (Walter Debenham) Sweeting - The Cathedral Church of Peterborough: A Description Of Its Fabric And A Brief History Of The Episcopal See

The round-arched, deeply recessed doorway has the usual paneled jambs and soffit, but the reeded casings and square impost blocks are of the sort that came into vogue about the beginning of the nineteenth century.

Frank Cousins - The Colonial Architecture of Philadelphia