Human Headed Corbel (2) at The Grand Curtius Liege, Belgium

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In architecture, a corbel is a structural piece of stone, wood or metal that protrudes from a wall to bear the weight above it, serving as a type of bracket. Unlike consoles, which are applied to structures, corbels are solid pieces of material embedded within walls. In the UK, a similar projecting timber was called a "tassel" or a "bragger." The technique of corbelling, where rows of corbels deeply keyed inside a wall support a projecting wall or parapet, dates back to Neolithic times. This method is commonly found in Medieval architecture and Scottish baronial style as well as in the vocabulary of classical architecture, such as the modillions of a Corinthian cornice, Hindu temple architecture, and ancient Chinese architecture. The term "corbel" originates from Old French, derived from the Latin corbellus, a diminutive of corvus ("raven"), which refers to its beak-like appearance. Similarly, in French, a bracket-corbel, typically a load-bearing internal feature, is called a corbeau ("crow").