Fascia

Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)

a bandage employed in (1) A diadem, various ways, as: formerly worn round the head as an emblem of royalty, the color being white; that worn by women was purple. (2) Formerly as a support to the breast by women. (3) Formerly as a bandage round the legs, especially of women, from the ankle to the knee, serving as a protection or a support to the legs of the 1 wearer, a practice that was adopted in Europe in the Middle Ages. (4) As a bandage for enswathing the bodies of infants, as practiced by the modern peasants of Italy. In anatomy, a thin, tendon-like covering surrounding the muscles of the limbs, and binding them in their places; a tendinous expansion or aponeurosis. The fasciæ are named from (1) the position, as the anal and lumbar fasciæ; (2) from some peculiar function, as the cremasteric; or (3) from some peculiarity, as the cribriform fascia. In architecture, a flat architectural member in an entablature or elsewhere; a band or broad fillet. The architrave in the more elegant orders of architecture is divided into three bands, which are called fasciæ; the lowest being called the first fascia, the middle one the second, and the upper one the third. When there are only two fasciæ, they are called the upper and the lower. The term is also applied to the board or strip over a shop front, on which the name, etc., of the owner or occupier is written. In astronomy, formerly the belt of a planet. In entomology, a broad, transverse band. In surgery, a bandage, roller, or ligature.