Architecture

ar·chi·tec·ture (ärk-tkchr) n.

1. The art and science of designing and erecting buildings.
2. Buildings and other large structures: the low, brick-and-adobe architecture of the Southwest.
3. A style and method of design and construction: Byzantine architecture.
4. Orderly arrangement of parts; structure: the architecture of the federal bureaucracy; the architecture of a novel.
5. Computer Science. The overall design or structure of a computer system, including the hardware and the software required to run it, especially the internal structure of the microprocessor.

[Latin architectra, from architectus, architect. See architect.]
archi·tectur·al adj.
archi·tectur·al·ly adv.

Source: American Heritage Dictionary  

Architecture:

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)
2. 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.

Origin: L. Architectura, fr. Architectus: cf. F. Architecture. See Architect.

Source: Websters Dictionary