Have you ever driven along a picturesque seaside highway where hills rise up along one side of the road and cliffs drop to the beach on the other? That roadway is a classic corniche. The word “corniche” is related to a French architecture term, “cornice,” which is an ornamental molding around the top of a ceiling or, traditionally, crowning the top of a building. The cornice was inspired by classical Greek architecture, namely the “korōnis,” or the coping stone, which is still used in modern masonry. It’s the flat stone that sits atop brickwork or stonework to protect it from the elements. The next time you’re driving along a corniche and admiring the views, remember these architecture terms that inspired the name of the road perched along the edge of a cliff.