doric column

A Doric column is an ancient Greek column type with a relatively simple capital, featuring a bowl-shaped outward bulge topped by a square abacus. It was the first of the three major Greek orders to evolve, before Ionic and Corinthian.

The capital combines an outward-rounded lower form with a square top slab, the abacus. This relatively simple profile distinguishes it from the scrolled Ionic and leaf-covered Corinthian capitals.

The term identifies the column's classical form. Its use as an ornamental feature does not require the building itself to date from ancient Greece.