baldachin
Americannoun
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Textiles. Also a silk brocade interwoven with gold or silver threads, used chiefly for ceremonial purposes.
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Architecture. a permanent ornamental canopy, as above a freestanding altar or throne.
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a portable canopy carried in religious processions.
noun
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a richly ornamented silk and gold brocade
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a canopy of fabric or stone over an altar, shrine, or throne in a Christian church or carried in Christian religious processions over an object of veneration
Other Word Forms
- baldachined adjective
Etymology
Origin of baldachin
1250–1300; earlier baldakin < Medieval Latin baldakinus < Italian baldacchino, equivalent to Baldacc ( o ) Baghdad (famous as a source of silk brocades) + -ino -ine 1
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
We can see St. Matthew on the left above the baldachin, and St. John on the right.
From National Geographic
I was glad to escape the cold and wind, and especially liked the Meissen collection and the throne room, with its imposing baldachin.
From New York Times
The rosy-coloured damask curtains, which form a baldachin over it, are tied to the branches of enormous jasmine trees by heavy golden tassels.
From Project Gutenberg
Each wheel bears the image of the sun, and six pillars, surmounted by a golden drapery, form a sort of baldachin over the car.
From Project Gutenberg
The priest Mukhovetski carried the gilded monstrance; holding it with both hands above his face and sometimes raising it on high, he moved on under a baldachin, calm, with closed eyes and an ascetic face.
From Project Gutenberg
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
