epergne

American  

[ih-purn, ey-pairn] / ɪˈpɜrn, eɪˈpɛərn /

noun

1. an ornamental piece for the center of a table, for holding fruit, flowers, etc.

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epergne British  

/ ɪˈpɜːn /

noun

1. an ornamental centrepiece for a table: a stand with holders for sweetmeats, fruit, flowers, etc

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Etymology

Origin of epergne

1755–65; perhaps < French épargne treasury, saving, noun derivative of épargner to save < Germanic; compare German sparen to save, spare

Example Sentences

On the table stood a couple of little glasses, a decanter containing liqueur and a small epergne, loaded with fruit and pastry.

From Bertha Garlan by Schnitzler, Arthur

Beyond them lay the length of the Turkey carpet darkening away under the long biscuit-box and the large epergne made her feel guilty and shifting, guilty from the beginning of things.

From Pointed Roofs Pilgrimage, Volume 1 by Richardson, Dorothy Miller

Nothing would have been more difficult than to explain why it was that Pansey Cottrell should be as essential to a fashionable dinner party as the epergne.

From Belles and Ringers by Smart, Hawley

A corpulent straddling epergne, blotched all over as if it had broken out in an eruption rather than been ornamented, delivered this address from an unsightly silver platform in the centre of the table.

From Our Mutual Friend by Dickens, Charles

With a smile lingering about her lip, after her uncle's departure, Regina filled the epergne on the table with a mass of rose-coloured oleanders—her mother's favourite flowers, and fringed the edge with geraniums and fuchsias.

From Infelice by Evans, Augusta J. (Augusta Jane)