valance

[val-uhns, vey-luhns]

noun

1. a short curtain or piece of drapery that is hung from the edge of a canopy, from the frame of a bed, etc.

2. a short ornamental piece of drapery placed across the top of a window.

valance

/ ˈvæləns /

noun

1. a short piece of drapery hung along a shelf, canopy, or bed, or across a window, to hide structural detail

Other Word Forms

• valanced adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of valance¹

1400–50; late Middle English; perhaps after Valence, French city noted for cloth-making

Word History and Origins

Origin of valance¹

C15: perhaps named after _Valence , France, town noted for its textiles

Example Sentences

Concealed with a valance or recessed into the cabinets, they can illuminate the entire length of a counter while remaining hidden from view.

Read more on Seattle Times

Working with her sister, a seamstress, she made a textile valance for the ceiling and added long curtains on a concealed rod that can wrap the sleeping spaces in fabric.

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For a clean, custom look, Arnold sometimes likes to hide the curtain rod or track by tucking it behind a valance or crown molding.

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After surveying their distorted bodies and their impossible reflections in mirrors, my eye wanders off to the framing apparatuses of lavish curtains and valance.

Read more on New York Times

The studio quietly held it in storage after wrapping production on the original in 2014, with its upholstered valances and window blinds still intact.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• decoration 
• drape 
• drapery 
• screen 
• shade 
• shroud 
• shutter 
• veil