tapestry

[ tap-uh-stree ]
See synonyms for tapestry on Thesaurus.com
noun,plural tap·es·tries.
  1. 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.

  2. a machine-woven reproduction of this.

verb (used with object),tap·es·tried, tap·es·try·ing.
  1. to furnish, cover, or adorn with tapestry.

  2. to represent or depict in a tapestry.

Origin of tapestry

1
1400–50; late Middle English tapst(e)ry, tapistry<Middle French tapisserie carpeting. See tapis, -ery

Other words from tapestry

  • tap·es·try·like, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use tapestry in a sentence

  • Their permanent residences are adorned with priceless furniture, tapestries and ornaments.

    Ways of War and Peace | Delia Austrian
  • The word arras comes from Arras, a town in France, which was famous for its beautiful tapestries.

    Stories That Words Tell Us | Elizabeth O'Neill
  • Their sides he attached as cross-bars to others, by means of strings ravelled from the canvas of the tapestries.

    The False Chevalier | William Douw Lighthall
  • Its tapestries were the richest ever seen by Parisians, its silver such as few princes owned, its table lavish and ungrudging.

  • The tapestries sent out from this factory were not mere imitations as close as possible of painted pictures.

    The Old Furniture Book | N. Hudson Moore

British Dictionary definitions for tapestry

tapestry

/ (ˈtæpɪstrɪ) /


nounplural -tries
  1. 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

  2. another word for needlepoint

  1. a colourful and complicated situation: the rich tapestry of London life

Origin of tapestry

1
C15: from Old French tapisserie carpeting, from Old French tapiz carpet; see tapis

Derived forms of tapestry

  • tapestried, adjective
  • tapestry-like, adjective

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