tracery
Americannoun
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ornamental work consisting of ramified ribs, bars, or the like, as in the upper part of a Gothic window, in panels, screens, etc.
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any delicate, interlacing work of lines, threads, etc., as in carving or embroidery; network.
noun
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a pattern of interlacing ribs, esp as used in the upper part of a Gothic window, etc
-
any fine pattern resembling this
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of tracery
late Middle English word dating back to 1425–75; see origin at trace 1, -ery
Vocabulary lists containing tracery
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.
Amid this gentle drama, Jewett depicts the marshland, where “the lines of the creeks made a broad tracery whichever way one looked.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 26, 2026
In front of the new hedge, a simple 9-foot arbor, also stained a dark color, supports Clematis armandii, providing an evergreen tracery of foliage that’s smothered with fragrant white blooms in early spring.
From Seattle Times • Jun. 3, 2023
Clues in the remaining buildings reveal it had corner turrets and a great hall accessed via an impressive doorway and illuminated by tracery windows.
From BBC • May 1, 2022
The interior is what I’d call “Victorian futurist”: glazed brick and tracery wrought-iron staircases and balustrades.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 19, 2022
Finally, inside the gatehouse, there was a neat little hole in the middle of the vaulted ceiling, which had painted tracery and basses.
From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
