tracery

[ trey-suh-ree ]

/ ˈtreɪ sə ri /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR tracery ON THESAURUS.COM

noun, plural trac·er·ies.

ornamental work consisting of ramified ribs, bars, or the like, as in the upper part of a Gothic window, in panels, screens, etc.

any delicate, interlacing work of lines, threads, etc., as in carving or embroidery; network.

Nearby words

traceable, traceless, tracer, tracer bullet, traceried, tracery, traces, traceur, trache-, trachea, tracheal

Origin of tracery

late Middle English word dating back to 1425–75; see origin at trace¹, -ery

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for tracery

The tracery of a rose window over the door of the North aisle, is gone, and perhaps it is difficult to decide what it meant.
Guernsey Pictorial Directory and Stranger's Guide|Thomas Bellamy
The arches of the windows in the aisles are Early Decorated, the tracery is modern.
The Cathedrals of Great Britain|P. H. Ditchfield
The tracery of the windows is unusual in design, and is similar to that in a window of the chapel at Merton College, Oxford.
Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Gloucester [2nd ed.]|H. J. L. J. Mass
Cusp—an ornament used in the tracery of windows, screens, etc., to form foliation.
Scottish Cathedrals and Abbeys|Dugald Butler and Herbert Story

From others, as at Saint German, the tracery has been cut away altogether.
Sketches of Travel in Normandy and Maine|Edward A. Freeman

British Dictionary definitions for tracery

tracery

/ (ˈtreɪsərɪ) /

noun plural -eries

a pattern of interlacing ribs, esp as used in the upper part of a Gothic window, etc

any fine pattern resembling this

Derived Forms

traceried, 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