Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A large table centerpiece consisting of a frame with extended arms or branches supporting holders, as for flowers, fruit, or sweetmeats.
Wiktionary
- n. A table centerpiece, usually made of silver, generally consisting of a central bowl with radiating dishes or holders.
Etymologies
- French (Wiktionary)
- Perhaps alteration of French épargne, a saving, from épargner, to save, from Old French espargnier, of Germanic origin. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“The epergne was a beautiful thing of crystal and gold, a celebrated work of art, regarded as an exquisite possession.”
“An epergne," Evans said, smiling at the extravagance of it.”
The Guardian: Amid the jumble, the story of Britain's age of silver
“Other times, it is merely the exact word for a thing that sticks in the mind: instead of using the word “centerpiece,” one might say “epergne.””
Tourbillon : Ange Mlinko : Harriet the Blog : The Poetry Foundation
“A pair of candelabra stood either side of the epergne, their light setting the five or six crystal decanters and the silver serving dishes aglitter.”
“Set defiantly in the center of the jacquard tablecloth was a heavy, flamboyantly molded silver epergne, its stand supported by two Rubens-like female figures.”
“Cheapside, having invested some money in two desks, several pairs of richly-plated candlesticks, a dinner epergne, and a bagatelle-board.”
“The dinner epergne remained at chambers, and figured at the banquets there, which the Colonel gave pretty freely.”
““It is not such a dinner as you have seen at her house, with six side-dishes, two flanks, that splendid epergne, and the silver dishes top and bottom; but such as my Rosa has she offers with a willing heart,” cries the Campaigner.”
“But the dining hall, with its mahogany-lined walls and long refectory table, was empty, the epergne of roses in the centre the only sign of life.”
“They exactly resemble the finest work in frosted silver, the curve of their globular mass of leaves is perfect; and one thinks of them rather as the base of an epergne for an imperial table, or as a prize at Ascot or Goodwood, than as anything organic.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘epergne’.
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phrontistery - e
from phrontistery.info
ecclesiarchy, ecclesiastry, ecdemomania, echinuliform, echoism, echolalia, echopraxia, eclaircise, ?claircissement, eclat, ?clat, eclegme and 616 more...
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250 Further Spelling Words
Another compilation of spelling words suitable for intermediate to advanced spellers.
venturi, aesir, affenpinscher, rottweiler, amanuensis, balletomane, hansard, sangfroid, yukata, capriccio, cuisse, heriot and 237 more...
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Logolepsy
"Luciferous Logolepsy is a collection of over 9,000 obscure English words. Though the definition of an 'English' word might seem to be straightforward, it is not. There exist so many adopted, deriv...
Anschauung, Areopagus, Argus, Briarean, Dei gratia, Dei judicium, Deo volente, Duecento, Foehn, Geflugelte Worte, Gegenschein, Hakenkreuz and 9230 more...
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A Garnish of Pewter
A list of pewter items and wares gleaned from the literature, or found listed for sale in antique catalogs - from spoons to stills and chamber pots to church cups. A synonym for the larger, heavier...
teapot, porringer, flagon, wine funnel, pepper shaker, broth bowl, basin, candlesticks, tankard, beaker, measure, chalice and 155 more...
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Verba Dilecta
delectable, notate, pauciloquy, paucity, pauciloquent, paucify, interscapilium, uropygium, inferna, nota, equipollent, prepollent and 677 more...
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The Aubrey/Maturin List I'm Gonna Mak...
I'm wading through Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin novels one by one, and someday, I'll wade through them again and list all the words I learned while reading them.
Edit: I started ma...studdingsail, carronade, mumchance, grumlin-futtocks, crosscat-harpings, holystone, sennit, orlop, orchitis, negus, kevel, altumal and 1112 more...
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O! Timballo
for the same
tea-poy, pooking fork, ait, eyot, quodlibet, milk leg, tussie-mussie, calash, gueules, caitiff, bindery, demi-rep and 226 more...
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Outlander series words
A place for me to keep words I found (or found anew) while reading Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series. (Culling my enormous "Learned (or Encountered) in Reading" list.)
gralloch, yeuk, corpse-candle, saprophytic, baldachin, Kermanshah, celandine, tynchal, quaich, mesentery, basidium, dittany and 244 more...
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words that trip off the tongue
ideology, phallocentric, parapraxis, gelid, illusion, tangible, tangibility, crux, medusa, noir, chloroform, chap and 98 more...
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sionnach's Words
contumely, fomite, holmgang, poltroon, eleemosynary, obsidian, nugatory, grindcore, felch, recrudescent, pyx, parenteral and 3271 more...
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the catch-all
inveigle, frontier, invective, quizzical, merit, proficiency, eleemosynary, ham-handed, circumspect, epergne, cobble, industriousness and 201 more...
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Monovocalics
Words that have only one of the vowels. On this list I include only words with at least three vowels. When I first started the list, if a word had several forms, I generally listed only the one wit...
syzygy, mirific, cumulus, homolog, monocot, bedewed, jezebel, referee, bikini, minikin, locomotor, terebenthene and 2359 more...
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Words of the Day
glabella, chirotony, nook-shotten, crapehanger, filemot, swirlie, egosurf, lexiphanicism, Ruritanian, stichometry, chrononaut, faldstool and 2031 more...
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embellish
and embellishment and embellishing
trim, deck, dress, garnish, adorn, embroider, grace, decorate, aggrandize, dramatize, dramatise, pad and 64 more...
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Words from the Works of Charles Dickens
A delightful collection of words found in my reading of Dickens.
perspicuity, farinaceous, superciliously, epergne, staylace, sanguinary, myrmidon, suborned, linchpin, depreciatory, unremunerative, propitiation and 18 more...
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Words Which Caught my Fancy
Just a private list of words which I enjoy (:
schadenfreude, quixotic, serendipity, ennui, loquacious, taciturn, persnickety, zeitgeist, tchotchke, fhqwhgads, moxie, pixie and 40 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for epergne.

knitandpurl "Czech pewterers mend pewter kettles; then the street sellers sell these mended vessels: ewers, cressets (even epergnes)."
Eunoia by Christian Bök (upgraded edition), p 104 May 23, 2010
chained_bear "Jenny's bookshelf, battered and scarred from the last incursion of Redcoats, three months ago. The big silver epergne. That was slightly dented, but had been too heavy to fit into a soldier's knapsack, and so had escaped the pilfering of smaller objects."
—Diana Gabaldon, Voyager (NY: Dell, 1994), 67 Jan 13, 2010
chained_bear "...each fishing in strict turn and calling or even shrieking out the name of the catch—sauce tureen, small ladle, large ladle, side-dish, cover, a monstrous epergne and so down to the scores of plates, big and little—until the tables overflowed..."
--Patrick O'Brian, The Letter of Marque, 130 Feb 29, 2008
rolig Enter: two rivers, gracefully bearing
countless little pellucid jellies
in cut-glass epergnes dragging with silver chains.
– Elizabeth Bishop, "Invitation to Miss Marianne Moore" Oct 9, 2007