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definitions

fresco

[ fres-koh ]
/ ˈfrɛs koʊ /
|

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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Nearby words

  1. frequent,
  2. frequent flier,
  3. frequentation,
  4. frequentative,
  5. frequently,
  6. fresco secco,
  7. frescobaldi,
  8. frescobaldi, girolamo,
  9. fresh,
  10. 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 frescoes

British Dictionary definitions for frescoes

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 frescoes

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 frescoes

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.