definitions

fresco

[ fres-koh ]
/ ˈfrɛs koʊ /
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noun, plural fres·coes, fres·cos.

Also called buon fresco, true fresco. the art or technique of painting on a moist, plaster surface with colors ground up in water or a limewater mixture.Compare fresco secco.
a picture or design so painted.

verb (used with object), fres·coed, fres·co·ing.

to paint in fresco.

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RELATED WORDS

portray, sketch, depict, coat, cover, draw, daub, wash, tint, design, decorate, dye, brush, illuminate, enliven, embellish, paint, darken, infuse, stain

Nearby words

frequent, frequent flier, frequentation, frequentative, frequently, fresco, fresco secco, frescobaldi, frescobaldi, girolamo, fresh, fresh as a daisy

Origin of fresco

1590–1600; < Italian: cool, fresh (< Gmc)
Related formsfres·co·er, fres·co·ist, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for fresco

British Dictionary definitions for fresco

fresco

/ (ˈfrɛskəʊ) /

noun plural -coes or -cos

a very durable method of wall-painting using watercolours on wet plaster or, less properly, dry plaster (fresco secco), with a less durable result
a painting done in this way

Word Origin for fresco

C16: from Italian: fresh plaster, coolness, from fresco (adj) fresh, cool, of Germanic origin
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 fresco

fresco

n.

1590s, in fresco, literally "in fresh," with a sense of "painted on fresh mortar or plaster," from Italian fresco "cool, fresh," from Proto-Germanic *friskaz (see fresh (adj.1)).

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper

Culture definitions for fresco

fresco

A painting on wet plaster. When the plaster dries, the painting is bonded to the wall. Fresco was a popular method for painting large murals during the Renaissance. The Last Supper, by Leonardo da Vinci, is a fresco, as are the paintings by Michelangelo in the Sistine Chapel.

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.