Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Architecture \Ar"chi*tec`ture\ (?; 135), n. [L. architectura,
   fr. architectus: cf. F. architecture. See {Architect}.]
   1. The art or science of building; especially, the art of
      building houses, churches, bridges, and other structures,
      for the purposes of civil life; -- often called civil
      architecture.

            Many other architectures besides Gothic. --Ruskin.

   3. Construction, in a more general sense; frame or structure;
      workmanship.

            The architecture of grasses, plants, and trees.
                                                  --Tyndall.

            The formation of the first earth being a piece of
            divine architecture.                  --Burnet.

   {Military architecture}, the art of fortifications.

   {Naval architecture}, the art of building ships.