polyptych

[ pol-ip-tik ]

noun

1. a work of art composed of several connected panels.

polyptych

/ ˈpɒlɪptɪk /

noun

1. an altarpiece consisting of more than three panels, set with paintings or carvings, and usually hinged for folding Compare diptych triptych

Word History and Origins

Origin of polyptych¹

1855–60; special use of Late Latin polyptychum < Greek polýptychon a register, roll, noun use of neuter of polýptychos having many folds. See poly-, diptych, triptych

Word History and Origins

Origin of polyptych¹

C19: via Late Latin from Greek poluptuchon something folded many times, from poly- + ptuchē a fold

Example Sentences

Museums have tried and failed in the past to assemble the remaining eight panels, spread among five museums in Europe and the United States, of the original 30-piece polyptych.

From Seattle Times

The statuesque figures in April Bey’s woven tapestry polyptych, “Sankofa, They/Them,” don’t so much look at you as through you.

From Los Angeles Times

In the early ’70s, they created a polyptych painting called “Biography of Our Contemporary,” which tells the story of growing up as a Russian Jew in 197 squares using eclectic styles of art.

From New York Times

Other pieces — a double portrait called “Not All Our Lovemaking Had to Smell of Poppers,” an extraordinary polyptych about the end of a relationship called “Breaking Up / Breaking Down” — take on alienation and belonging, or race and orientation, more baldly.

From New York Times

He cites one of her more recent ventures: fine-art conservation involving the Ghent Altarpiece — “The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb,” a 15th-century polyptych attributed to Hubert and Jan van Eyck, arguably among the most important paintings in history.

From New York Times