parcel-gilt

adjective

1. partly gilded, esp (of an item of silverware) having the inner surface gilded

Word History and Origins

Origin of parcel-gilt¹

C15: from parcel (in the obsolete adv sense: partly) + gilt ¹

Example Sentences

Thou didst swear to me upon a parcel-gilt goblet, sitting in my Dolphin-chamber, at the round table, by a sea-coal fire, upon Wednesday in Wheeson week, when the prince broke thy head for liking his father to a singing-man of Windsor; thou didst swear to me then, as I was washing thy wound, to marry me and make me my lady thy wife.

From Project Gutenberg

The actual amount of plate taken at 'His Majesty's visitation' on this occasion was 1,553 oz gold plate, 6,853 oz. gilt plate, 933 oz. parcel-gilt plate, 190 oz. white plate.

From Project Gutenberg

And when Lizzie McInnerny's Mistress Quickly complains to Falstaff that "thou didst swear to me upon a parcel-gilt goblet, sitting in my dolphin chamber, at the round table, by a sea-coal fire, upon Wednesday in Whitsun-week", she anticipates the garrulous particularity of Pickwick's Mrs Bardell.

From The Guardian

The warehouse was charmingly set up like a shop so that clients could feel they were getting a little retail therapy, though it’s hard to imagine Brooke Astor grazing the aisles in Long Island City, lighting on a pair of modern Italian parcel-gilt wall lights and saying, “Oh, I’ll take those.”

From New York Times

Interestingly, unobtrusive objects, when perceived to be important — like a rare “ruyi,” or scepter in parcel-gilt silver of the 16th century — caught the eye of a collector from mainland China, despite its heavy oxydization.

From New York Times