Fluting (architecture)

Fluting in architecture is the shallow grooves running vertically along a surface.

The term typically refers to the grooves running on a column shaft or a pilaster, but need not necessarily be restricted to those two applications. If the hollowing out of material meets in a point, the point is called an arris.

If the lower half of the hollowed-out grooves appear to have been re-filled with a cylindrical element, it may be referred to as "cabled fluting."