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.
Start your tour with the baldachin, the great canopy over the papal altar and St. Peter’s tomb, crafted by master artist and architect Gian Lorenzo Bernini.
From National Geographic • Jul. 18, 2015
We can see St. Matthew on the left above the baldachin, and St. John on the right.
From National Geographic • Jul. 18, 2015
To signify this fact, the cardinals tug heavy silken cords to drop the baldachin that hangs over each chair, leaving only the new Pope's throne covered.
From Time Magazine Archive
Overhead was hung a monster baldachin or canopy.
From Time Magazine Archive
The Cardinal-archbishop, in pontifical attire, took his seat under the baldachin, while at some distance from him sat the Viceroy and Masaniello.
From The Great Events by Famous Historians, Volume 11 by Johnson, Rossiter
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.
