a fabric consisting of a warp upon which colored threads are woven by hand to produce a design, often pictorial, used for wall hangings, furniture coverings, etc.
a machine-woven reproduction of this.
verb (used with object),tap·es·tried,tap·es·try·ing.
a heavy ornamental fabric, often in the form of a picture, used for wall hangings, furnishings, etc, and made by weaving coloured threads into a fixed warp
mid-15c., variant of tapissery (early 15c.), from Middle French tapisserie "tapestry" (14c.), from tapisser "to cover with heavy fabric," from tapis "heavy fabric," from Old French tapiz (12c.), from Vulgar Latin *tappetium, from Byzantine Greek tapetion, from classical Greek, diminutive of tapes (genitive tapetos) "tapestry, heavy fabric," probably from an Iranian source (cf. Persian taftan, tabidan "to turn, twist"). The figurative use is first recorded 1580s.
