tapestry

[tap-uh-stree]

noun

plural

tapestries 

1. a fabric consisting of a warp upon which colored threads are woven by hand to produce a design, often pictorial, used for wall hangings, furniture coverings, etc.

2. a machine-woven reproduction of this.

verb (used with object)

tapestried, tapestrying 

1. to furnish, cover, or adorn with tapestry.

2. to represent or depict in a tapestry.

tapestry

/ ˈtæpɪstrɪ /

noun

1. a heavy ornamental fabric, often in the form of a picture, used for wall hangings, furnishings, etc, and made by weaving coloured threads into a fixed warp

2. another word for needlepoint

3. a colourful and complicated situation

   the rich tapestry of London life

Other Word Forms

• tapestrylike adjective
• tapestried adjective
• tapestry-like adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of tapestry¹

1400–50; late Middle English tapst ( e ) ry, tapistry < Middle French tapisserie carpeting. See tapis, -ery

Word History and Origins

Origin of tapestry¹

C15: from Old French tapisserie carpeting, from Old French tapiz carpet; see _tapis

Example Sentences

Those LED wristbands play a huge part, too, making everyone in the audience part of a giant tapestry of light.

Read more on BBC

In this respect “I Know This Much Is True” also is a dramatic tapestry of destructive anger issues, festering under a lifetime of repressed resentment and confusion.

Read more on Salon

A new display area is being built for the tapestry, which will take at least two years.

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I really hear Soul II Soul’s hook “back to life/back to reality,” like a tapestry making piano-esque shadows against the light in the room.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

The final season of “Andor” required visual storytellers to craft a stylized tapestry that reflected each episode’s underlying themes while unifying the whole.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• drapery