Alcove (/ælˈkoʊv/ or /ˈælkoʊv/; through Spanish: alcoba [alˈkoβa], from Arabic: القبة‎‎, meaning al-qubbah, "the vault") is an architectural term for a recess in a room, usually screened off by pillars, balustrades or drapery. In geography and geology, alcove is used for a wind-eroded depression in the side of a cliff of a homogenous rock type, famous from sandstones of the Colorado Plateau like the Navajo Sandstone.