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intarsia

[in-tahr-see-uh]
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noun
  1. an art or technique of decorating a surface with inlaid patterns, especially of wood mosaic, developed during the Renaissance.
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Also tarsia.

Origin of intarsia

1860–65; alteration (influenced by Italian tarsia) of Italian intarsio, derivative of intarsiare to inlay, equivalent to in- in-2 + tarsiare < Arabic tarṣīʿ an inlay, incrustation; see tarsia
Related formsin·tar·si·ate [in-tahr-see-eyt, -it] /ɪnˈtɑr siˌeɪt, -ɪt/, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for intarsia

Historical Examples

  • The painter, the mosaicist, and the designer for intarsia are confused in a similar manner.

    Intarsia and Marquetry

    F. Hamilton Jackson

  • In some of the early Italian "intarsia" the decoration was cut into the surface of the panel piece by piece.

  • The same writer mentions still more elaborate examples of pictorial "intarsia" in the choir stalls of Sta.

  • Of all the examples of pictorial Intarsia the most elaborate are perhaps those in the choir stalls of Sta.

  • The intarsia doors of the palace at Urbino are among the most famous examples of this form of decoration.

British Dictionary definitions for intarsia

intarsia

tarsia

noun
  1. a decorative or pictorial mosaic of inlaid wood or sometimes ivory of a style developed in the Italian Renaissance and used esp on wooden wall panels
  2. the art or practice of making such mosaics
  3. (in knitting) an individually worked motif
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Word Origin

C19: changed from Italian intarsio
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