reredos

[reer-dos, reer-i-, rair-i-]

See more synonyms for reredos on Thesaurus.com

noun

a screen or a decorated part of the wall behind an altar in a church.
the back of a fireplace or of a medieval open hearth.

Origin of reredos

1325–75; Middle English, alteration of Anglo-French areredos, equivalent to Middle French arere behind (see arrear) + dos back (< Latin dorsum)

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for reredos

shrine, font, tabernacle, reredos, chantry, retable

Examples from the Web for reredos

Historical Examples of reredos

Like most Flemish productions, the reredos is wanting in grace.
Portuguese Architecture
Walter Crum Watson
This reredos is in the chapel on the south of the Capella Mor.
Portuguese Architecture
Walter Crum Watson
Traces of colour are to be seen in the reredos and the roof over it.
Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Gloucester [2nd ed.]
H. J. L. J. Mass
The floor has some interesting tiles and the reredos has been painted.
The Cathedrals of Great Britain
P. H. Ditchfield
The triptych which forms the reredos was carved at Ober Ammergau.
The Cathedrals of Great Britain
P. H. Ditchfield

British Dictionary definitions for reredos

reredos

noun

a screen or wall decoration at the back of an altar, in the form of a hanging, tapestry, painting, or piece of metalwork or sculpture
another word for fireback (def. 1)

Word Origin for reredos

C14: from Old French areredos, from arere behind + dos back, from Latin dorsum

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 reredos

"screen behind an altar," late 14c., from Anglo-French rere-, archaic comb. form of rear (n.), + dos "back" (see dossier). Klein's sources suggest it is aphetic of Anglo-French areredos, from Old French arere "at the back" (Modern French arrière).