bas-relief

[ bah-ri-leef, bas-; bah-ri-leef, bas- ]
See synonyms for bas-relief on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. relief sculpture in which the figures project slightly from the background.

Origin of bas-relief

1
1660–70; <French, on the model of Italian bassorilievo.Cf. basso-relievo, base2, relief2

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

How to use bas-relief in a sentence

  • The sarcophagus of Junius Bassus exhibits a bas relief of Job comforted by his friends.

    The Catacombs of Rome | William Henry Withrow
  • In the accompanying engraving, from a mutilated bas-relief in the Lateran Museum, this scene is exhibited.

    The Catacombs of Rome | William Henry Withrow
  • The pedestal of this clock represented in bas-relief the birth of astronomy on the Egyptian plains.

    Urania | Camille Flammarion
  • The principal bas-relief is a huge square panel, graven on the face of a rock bastion which immediately overhangs the stream.

    The Cradle of Mankind | W.A. Wigram
  • Here a sort of panel, cut square, and covered with round embossments in various positions, simulated a vague bas-relief.

    Toilers of the Sea | Victor Hugo

British Dictionary definitions for bas-relief

bas-relief

/ (ˌbɑːrɪˈliːf, ˌbæs-, ˈbɑːrɪˌliːf, ˈbæs-) /


noun
  1. sculpture in low relief, in which the forms project slightly from the background but no part is completely detached from it: Also called (Italian): basso rilievo

Origin of bas-relief

1
C17: from French, from Italian basso rilievo low relief; see base ², relief

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

Cultural definitions for bas-relief

bas-relief

[ (bah ruh-leef) ]


A kind of carving or sculpture in which the figures are raised a few inches from a flat background to give a three-dimensional effect. The term is French for “low relief.”

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.