Adjacent Words

Frieze definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

FRIEZE, n. freez. [Gr. to shiver or tremble with fear, whose elements are frg or frk.]
1. Properly, the nap on woolen cloth; hence, a kind of coarse woolen cloth or stuff, with a nap on one side.
2. In architecture, that part of the entablature of a column which is between the architrave and cornice. It is a flat member or face, usually enriched with figures of animals or other ornaments of sculpture, whence its name.
Cornice or frieze with bossy sculptures graven.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: an architectural ornament consisting of a horizontal sculptured band between the architrave and the cornice
2: a heavy woolen fabric with a long nap

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Middle English frise, from Anglo-French, from Middle Dutch vriese Date: 15th century 1. a heavy durable coarse wool and shoddy fabric with a rough surface 2. a pile surface of uncut loops or of patterned cut and uncut loops II. noun Etymology: Middle French frise, perhaps from Medieval Latin phrygium, frisium embroidered cloth, from Latin phrygium, from neuter of Phrygius Phrygian, from Phrygia Date: 1563 1. the part of an entablature between the architrave and the cornice 2. a sculptured or richly ornamented band (as on a building or piece of furniture) 3. a band, line, or series suggesting a frieze <a constant frieze of visitors wound its way around the…ruins — Mollie Panter-Downes> • friezelike adjective

Britannica Concise

Any long, narrow, horizontal panel or ornamental band used for decorative purposes around the walls of a room or exterior walls of a building. In Greco-Roman architecture it is a horizontal band, often decorated with relief sculpture, between the architrave and cornice of a building. The most famous decorative frieze is on the outer wall of the Parthenon in Athens, a 525-ft (160-m) representation of the ritual procession of the Panathenaic festival.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

1. n. 1 the part of an entablature between the architrave and the cornice. 2 a horizontal band of sculpture filling this. 3 a band of decoration elsewhere, esp. along a wall near the ceiling. Etymology: F frise f. med.L frisium, frigium f. L Phrygium (opus) (work) of Phrygia 2. n. coarse woollen cloth with a nap, usu. on one side only. Etymology: ME f. F frise, prob. rel. to FRISIAN

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Frieze Frieze, v. t. To make a nap on (cloth); to friz. See Friz, v. t., 2. Friezing machine, a machine for friezing cloth; a friezing machine.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Frieze Frieze, n. [Perh. the same word as frieze a, kind of cloth. Cf. Friz.] (Arch.) (a) That part of the entablature of an order which is between the architrave and cornice. It is a flat member or face, either uniform or broken by triglyphs, and often enriched with figures and other ornaments of sculpture. (b) Any sculptured or richly ornamented band in a building or, by extension, in rich pieces of furniture. See Illust. of Column. Cornice or frieze with bossy sculptures graven. --Milton.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Frieze Frieze, n. [F. frise, perh. originally a woolen cloth or stuff from Friesland (F. Frise); cf. LL. frisii panni and frissatus pannus, a shaggy woolen cloth, F. friser to friz, curl. Cf. Friz.] A kind of coarse woolen cloth or stuff with a shaggy or tufted (friezed) nap on one side. ``Robes of frieze.'' --Goldsmith.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(friezes) A frieze is a decoration high up on the walls of a room or just under the roof of a building. It consists of a long panel of carving or a long strip of paper with a picture or pattern on it. N-COUNT

Moby Thesaurus

abacus, acanthus, annulet, apophyge, architrave, astragal, beading, beak, bell, billet, boss, capstone, cartouche, cavetto, cima, cinquefoil, conge, console, coping, corbel, cornice, crown, cusp, cyma, dentil, drip, drop, fascia, fillet, finial, foil, fret, frontispiece, head, header, headpiece, keystone, lintel, listel, molding, ovolo, patera, pendant, quatrefoil, reed, sconce, splay, taenia, terminal, torus, treenail, trefoil, tympanum, volute