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coffered

[kaw-ferd, kof-erd]
adjective
  1. (of a vault, ceiling, or soffit) having coffers.
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Origin of coffered

First recorded in 1580–90; coffer + -ed3

coffer

[kaw-fer, kof-er]
noun
  1. a box or chest, especially one for valuables.
  2. coffers, a treasury; funds: The coffers of the organization were rapidly filled by the contributions.
  3. any of various boxlike enclosures, as a cofferdam.
  4. Also called caisson, lacunar. Architecture. one of a number of sunken panels, usually square or octagonal, in a vault, ceiling, or soffit.
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verb (used with object)
  1. to deposit or lay up in or as in a coffer or chest.
  2. to ornament with coffers or sunken panels.
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Origin of coffer

1250–1300; Middle English cofre < Old French ≪ Latin cophinus basket; see coffin
Related formscof·fer·like, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for coffered

Historical Examples

  • Both the portico and the cella no doubt had a coffered ceiling.

    Pompeii, Its Life and Art

    August Mau

  • All the roofs are in wood, with coffered ceilings richly decorated in gold and colour.

  • All the joints and angles are coffered with strips of split rattan sewn neatly on.

    The Malay Archipelago

    Alfred Russell Wallace

  • Above this is a band of Venetian-Gothic leaves, and in the coffered ceiling are rosettes.

    The Shores of the Adriatic

    F. Hamilton Jackson

  • He crossed his big hands with an air of Christian resignation, and looked up at the panels of the coffered ceiling.

    Hilda Wade

    Grant Allen

British Dictionary definitions for coffered

coffer

noun
  1. a chest, esp for storing valuables
  2. (usually plural) a store of money
  3. Also called: caisson, lacuna an ornamental sunken panel in a ceiling, dome, etc
  4. a watertight box or chamber
    1. short for cofferdam
    2. a recessed panel in a concrete, metal, or timber soffit
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verb (tr)
  1. to store, as in a coffer
  2. to decorate (a ceiling, dome, etc) with coffers
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Word Origin

C13: from Old French coffre, from Latin cophinus basket, from Greek kophinos
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

Word Origin and History for coffered

coffer

n.

mid-13c., from Old French cofre "a chest" (12c., Modern French coffre), from Latin cophinus "basket" (see coffin).

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper