persiennes

American

[pur-zee-enz, per-syen] / ˌpɜr ziˈɛnz, pɛrˈsjɛn /

noun

(used with a plural verb) Persian blinds.
(used with a singular verb) a printed or painted fabric of cotton or silk.

persiennes British

/ ˌpɜːsɪˈɛnz /

plural noun

Also called: Persian blinds. outside window shutters having louvres to keep out the sun while maintaining ventilation

"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

Etymology

Origin of persiennes

1835–45; < French, noun use of plural of persienne, feminine of persien, obsolete variant of persan Persian

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

persiennes

It was terribly cold, our windows under the persiennes were white with frost.

From The Blockade of Phalsburg An Episode of the End of the Empire by Alexandre Chatrian

She got up, walked across the floor to the open window and unfastened the persiennes.

From The Garden of Allah by Robert Smythe Hichens

I wondered in what part of the building was situated her apartment; and a single light, shining through the persiennes of one croisee, seemed to direct me to it.

From The Professor by Charlotte Brontë

She watched the sunshine coming in bars through the persiennes, and her immediate surroundings again melted away.

From The Rainbow by D. H. (David Herbert) Lawrence

The improvement is undoubted, but so is the absolute lack of interest and charm; at least, to those who are outside of the persiennes so uniformly closed against the summer sun.

From Wanderings by southern waters, eastern Aquitaine by Edward Harrison Barker

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023