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Synonyms

plafond

American  
[pluh-fon, pla-fawn] / pləˈfɒn, plaˈfɔ̃ /

noun

Architecture.

plural

plafonds
  1. a ceiling, whether flat or arched, especially one of decorative character.


plafond British  
/ plafɔ̃, pləˈfɒn /

noun

  1. a ceiling, esp one having ornamentation

  2. a card game, a precursor of contract bridge

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of plafond

1655–65; < French; Middle French platfond ceiling, literally, flat bottom, i.e., underside. See plate 1, fund

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.

The hills, however, were little only because the stretch was so vast; it was really a broad plafond upon which they had solemnly entered to dance a minuet with the playful shadows of the clouds.

From Lippincott's Magazine, October 1885 by Various

The salle de danse is peculiarly elegant, and in one of the apartments is a fine painting on the plafond representing Jupiter hurling thunderbolts on the Giants.

From After Waterloo: Reminiscences of European Travel 1815-1819 by Frye, Major W. E

Silken carpets covered the floor, and the plafond of this gigantic hall was formed by the thousand-starred arch of heaven.

From The Daughter of an Empress by Greene, Nathaniel

Within the thickness of this wall, staircases descend to a lower gallery over the plafond of the proanos of the colonnade lighted from above.

From History of the Washington National Monument and of the Washington National Monument Society by Harvey, Frederick Loviad

Ingres, too, who in those days was considered the greatest draughtsman since the time of Raphael, had contributed a masterpiece to the decoration of the hall, a plafond, "The Apotheosis of Napoleon I."

From Fragments of an Autobiography by Moscheles, Felix