Gable, the triangular part of an exterior wall of a building between the top of the side-walls and the slopes of the roof. The gable is one of the most common and characteristic features of Gothic architecture. The end walls of classic buildings had Pediments (q.v.), which followed the slope of the roofs, but these were always low in pitch. In medieval architecture gables of every angle are used with the utmost freedom, and when covered with the moulded and crocketed copes of the richer periods of the style, they give great variety and beauty of outline.
Gables, or small gables, are used in great profusion in connection with the more decorative parts of Gothic architecture, such as canopies, pinnacles, &c., where they are introduced in endless variety along with tracery, crockets, and other enrichments.
The towns of the middle ages had almost all the gables of the houses turned towards the streets, producing great diversity and picturesqueness of effect, as may still be seen in many towns which have been little modernised. The towns of Belgium and Germany especially still retain this medieval arrangement. In the later Gothic and the Renaissance periods the simple outline of the gable became stepped and broken in the most fantastic manner. This method of finishing gables has again become popular, all sorts of curves and twists being adopted. See CORBIE-STEMS.