millefiori

Or mil·le·fi·o·re

[mil-uh-fee-awr-ee, -ohr-ee]

noun

1. decorative glass made by fusing multicolored glass canes together, cutting them crosswise, joining them into new groups, embedding the groups in transparent glass, and blowing the resultant mass into a desired shape.

millefiori

/ ˌmɪlɪˈfjɔːrɪ /

noun

1. 1. decorative glassware in which coloured glass rods are fused and cut to create flower patterns: an ancient technique revived in Venice in the sixteenth century and in France and England in the nineteenth century

   2. ( as modifier )

      a millefiori paperweight

Word History and Origins

Origin of millefiori¹

1840–50; < Italian, equivalent to mille thousand (< Latin ) + fiori, plural of fiore < Latin flōri- (stem of flōs ) flower

Word History and Origins

Origin of millefiori¹

C19: from Italian: thousand flowers

Example Sentences

Dior will spring up on Melrose with its Millefiori Garden Pop-Up, a week of events celebrating the brand’s beloved fragrance, Miss Dior.

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The Murano name encompasses various styles and techniques, including millefiori, which is characterized by psychedelically dense floral patterns, and filigrana, a technique developed in the 16th century, in which white or colored glass threads are embedded into clear glass canes that are used to create finished pieces with a pattern of delicate stripes.

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It was on Murano that glassmakers first figured out how to make pure, transparent glass and perfected the technique called millefiori — “1,000 flowers” — in which layers of colored glass evoke a many-colored bouquet.

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Left behind were bronze, silver and gold jewelry, and many millefiori glass beads and Roman coins.

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Venera Finocchiaro, a ceramicist who taught in Rome, came to instruct the local women, who helped produce the elaborate tilework that now covers the sculptures in every imaginable style: crackled glazes, Murano glass, millefiori details, red protrusions like devil’s horns or chili peppers.

Read more on The New Yorker