gueridon

American  

[ger-ee-don, gey-ree-dawn] / ˈgɛr iˌdɒn, geɪ riˈdɔ̃ /

noun

French Furniture.

• gueridons
  plural

1. a small table or stand, as for holding a candelabrum.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• gueridons
  plural

Etymology

Origin of gueridon

1850–55; < French guéridon, after the proper name Guéridon

Explanation

A gueridon is a French side table with a circular top. You may see a gueridon in the furniture wing of a museum or even your antiques-loving grandfather's house. Gueridons were first made in seventeenth century France, and they had intricate, curved columns supporting their round tops. These columns were usually carved with figures inspired by ancient Roman and Greek forms. While gueridons are usually ornate and decorative, their simple purpose was to hold a small object, like a vase or candlestick. The word comes from the French name Guéridon, a fictional character featured in stories and songs in the seventeenth century.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

gueridon gueridons

Maria Theresa took up the letter from the gueridon on which she had laid it, and began to look it over.

From Joseph II. and His Court by Mühlbach, L. (Luise)

At last the house-keeper brought forward a little round table, such as once was called a gueridon, on which was a cup of strong mocha, the perfume of which filled the room.

From The Physiology of Taste by Robinson, Fayette

Brightly shone the light of chandelier and gueridon through the plate glass windows of the royal palace on the Ritterholm, and most beautifully was its brilliancy reflected by the quiet waters of the Malar lake.

From Tales from the German. Volume I. Arwed Gyllenstierna by Velde, C. F. van der (Carl Franz)

The table, a rickety gueridon, overbalanced, and away rolled my uncorked phial of prussic acid and fell into a hundred pieces on the tessellated floor.

From The Morals of Marcus Ordeyne : a Novel by Locke, William John

It is customary for the large table to occupy the centre of the room, beneath or just back of the chandeliers, flanked by two small tripod tables or gueridons.

From Magic In which are given clear and concise explanations of all the well-known illusions as well as many new ones. by Stanton, Ellis

He reformed the art by suppressing the suspiciously-draped tables of his predecessors, substituting for these "clumsy confederate boxes" light and elegant tables and little gueridons, undraped.

From Magic In which are given clear and concise explanations of all the well-known illusions as well as many new ones. by Stanton, Ellis