Meaning & use
architect
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Meanings
nouncountable
A professional who designs buildings and prepares the plans from which they are built.
Grammar: A countable noun: an architect, several architects.
Patterns
- an architect of something
- hire an architect
The architect showed us three designs for the new library.
We asked an architect to draw plans for the extension.
She trained as an architect before turning to photography.
nouncountablefigurative
The person chiefly responsible for creating or planning a policy, event or system.
Grammar: Figurative; almost always followed by of: the architect of the plan.
Patterns
- the architect of something
- a chief architect
The minister was the architect of the new tax policy.
Many people regard her as the architect of the company's recovery.
He was the chief architect of the peace agreement.
verbtransitivecomputinginformal
To design or plan something, especially a system or structure of software.
Grammar: Takes an object, mainly in technical writing: architect a system.
Patterns
- architect something
The team architected a cloud platform that could handle millions of users.
She architected the database so it could grow easily.
They hired an engineer to architect the new payment system.
Word forms
| plural | architects |
|---|---|
| third person singular | architects |
| past tense | architected |
| past participle | architected |
| -ing form | architecting |
Common combinations
- landscape architect
- A landscape architect designed the park around the lake.
- chief architect
- He was the chief architect of the reform.
- architect of the deal
- She was the architect of the deal that saved the club.
- hire an architect
- We had to hire an architect to redesign the kitchen.
- leading architect
- A leading architect won the prize for the museum.
Synonyms and how they differ
- designer
- Designer is broader and covers products, clothes and graphics, while architect is a trained professional for buildings.
- planner
- A planner arranges how land or events are organized, but does not necessarily create building designs.
- creator
- Creator stresses making something new and says nothing about careful planning, which is central to architect.
- mastermind
- A mastermind is a clever person behind a complex plan, often a secret or criminal one, and sounds more dramatic.
Word family
- architecture noun
- the art of designing buildings, or a building style
- architectural adjective
- relating to the design of buildings
- architecturally adverb
- in terms of building design
- archetype noun
- a typical example; shares the Greek prefix arch-, meaning chief
Commonly confused: architect or engineer? architect or surveyor?
architect vs engineer
An engineer works on how structures function and stay safe, while an architect designs how a building looks, feels and is arranged. On big projects they work together.
architect vs surveyor
A surveyor measures land and checks property condition. An architect designs the building itself.
Practice
The mayor is widely seen as the ____ of the city's new bicycle-lane network.
Choose one answer.
Architect of something means the person mainly responsible for planning it. A surveyor or inspector checks things, and a tenant rents a property.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “architect”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.