architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...

, the

latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

term ''opus'' ("work") is a word that generically indicates various techniques of constructing

buildings A building, or edifice, is an enclosed structure with a roof and walls standing more or less permanently in one place, such as a house or factory (although there's also portable buildings). Buildings come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and funct ...

that were in use in

ancient Rome In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 B ...

. Usually, the word ''opus'' is not used alone in building descriptions, but is paired with specific attributes whose purpose is to show precisely the building technique that was used (i.e., ''

opus africanum ''Opus africanum'' is a form of ashlar masonry used in Carthaginian and ancient Roman architecture, characterized by pillars of vertical blocks of stone alternating with horizontal blocks, filled in with smaller blocks in between. Its name der ...

'', ''

opus craticum ''Opus craticum'' or ''craticii'' is an ancient Roman construction technique described by Vitruvius in his books '' De architectura'' as wattlework which is plastered over. It is often employed to construct partition walls and floors. Vitruvius d ...

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opus emplectum ''Opus emplectum'' is an advanced Roman construction technique. Each side of a wall is constructed with finished stone blocks, leaving a substantial void between them. The void is filled with a mixture of broken stones mixed with mortar. A good ex ...

'', '' opus gallicum'', ''

opus incertum ''Opus'' (pl. ''opera'') is a Latin word meaning "work". Italian equivalents are ''opera'' (singular) and ''opere'' (pl.). Opus or OPUS may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Opus number, (abbr. Op.) specifying order of (usually) publicatio ...

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opus isodomum ''Opus isodomum'' ("work of equal height") is an ancient technique of wall construction with ashlars. It uses perfectly cut, completely regular squared stone blocks of equal height, and sometimes of the same length. Etymology ''opus'', work + ''is ...

'', ''

opus latericium 250px, Example of ''opus latericium'' on a tomb of the ancient Appian Way in Rome.">Rome.html" ;"title="Appian Way in Rome">Appian Way in Rome. ''Opus latericium'' (Latin for "brick work") is an Ancient Rome, ancient Roman construction technique ...

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opus mixtum Example of ''opus mixtum'' in the substruction of France.html"_;"title="Brest_Castle,_France">Brest_Castle,_France_ ''Opus_mixtum''_(Latin:_"mixed_work"),_or_''opus_vagecum''_and_''opus_compositum'',_was_an_Roman_architecture.html" "title="ran ...

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opus quadratum ''Opus quadratum'' ("squared work") is an ancient Roman construction technique, in which squared blocks of stone of the same height were set in parallel courses, most often without the use of mortar. The Latin author Vitruvius describes the tec ...

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opus reticulatum ''Opus reticulatum'' (also known as reticulate work) is a facing used for concrete walls in Roman architecture from about the first century BCE to the early first century CE. Facings are a type of polygonal masonry used to apply a smooth finish to ...

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opus vittatum ''Opus vittatum'' ("banded work"), also called ''opus listatum'', was an ancient Roman construction technique introduced at the beginning of the fourth century, made by parallel horizontal courses of tuff blocks alternated with bricks. Coarelli (1 ...

'', etc.).

See also