Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A work consisting of three painted or carved panels that are hinged together.
- n. A hinged writing tablet consisting of three leaves, used in ancient Rome.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A picture, carving, or other representation in three compartments side by side: most frequently used for an altar-piece. The central picture is usually complete in itself. The subsidiary designs on either side of it are smaller, and frequently correspond in size and shape to one half of the principal picture, to which they are joined by hinges so that they can be folded over and form a cover to it. The outsides of the folding parts or shutters have sometimes designs painted on them.
- n. A series of writing-tablets, three in number, hinged or tied together. When used for spreading with wax, and writing with the stylus, the outer leaves were recessed for the wax on the inside only, the middle leaf on both sides. These are made of fir-wood, beech-wood, baked clay, ivory, and other material.
Wiktionary
- n. art A picture or series of pictures painted on three tablets connected by hinges.
- n. philately A set of three se-tenant postage stamps that form a composite picture.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. A writing tablet in three parts, two of which fold over on the middle part.
- n. A picture or altarpiece in three compartments.
WordNet 3.0
- n. art consisting of a painting or carving (especially an altarpiece) on three panels (usually hinged together)
Etymologies
- Ancient Greek tri- + πτυχή ("a fold"). (Wiktionary)
- From Greek triptukhos, threefold : tri-, tri- + ptux, ptukh-, fold. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“The word triptych came from Greek, meaning threefold.”
“Probably the coolest feature of the DVD is the option to watch the film in triptych form, with three takes of the same scenes playing simultaneously.”
“The elegant main altarpiece or retablo, a large triptych, is thought to be the oldest surviving work of its kind in Mexico.”
Did you know? Mexico has five of the world's most endangered heritage sites
“By 2000, she says, she wanted to divide her life into a "triptych" -- participating in cultural institutions, performing charitable service and earning "my money for eating bread.”
“The triptych was the one her father had stolen from Sean.”
“The other was a medieval triptych, which is a fancy word for a carving set into three folding panels.”
“The triptych is the highlight of MOMA's latest installment of "Collaborations in the Collection," an ongoing series that highlights film partnerships.”
“Reasons include the fact that a triptych is a type of artwork a painting composed of three sections, that there are three of us and that we cover three disciplines: print, web, programming.”
“Between the two tablets others were sometimes inserted and the diptych would then be called a triptych, polyptych, etc.”
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume 5: Diocese-Fathers of Mercy
“The triptych is a unique performance painting, documenting a specific zero gravity experience as well as further developing the key elements of painting which Azam continues to explore in his work; colour, movement and line.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘triptych’.
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phrontistery-t
from phrontistery.info
tabacosis, tabanid, tabaret, tabati?re, tabby, tabefaction, tabellary, tabellion, tabernacle, tabernacular, tabescent, tabific and 930 more...
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art & art historical
chiaroscuro, architrave, column, capital, corinthian, dorice, entablature, frieze, ionic, sketch, abecedarian, abstraction and 124 more...
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Interesting words
A list of words that are odd or words that I have looked up.
concupiscence, brize, scree, scoria, forestaff, spanaemia, valetudinarianism, distasture, pyrethrum, laudanum, gentian, bicameral and 11250 more...
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wallace
Remington, Windsor, prorector, wen, aver, mottle, seltzer, tepee, lapidary, effete, sotto, presbyopia and 355 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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ipt
script, conscript, description, inscription, prescription, proscription, conniption, receipt, tip toe, tip top, strip tease, Rip Torn and 27 more...
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O So Zhinsky!
zarf, liripipe, theandric, tazza, bobeche, autotelic, gonfalon, refulgent, crepuscular, caduceus, knop, labarum and 46 more...
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Good Words
fenestering, cetic, immanent, quickening, archetypal, shibboleth, soma, wetware, heritable, Apotheosis, halcyon, cellar door and 482 more...
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words/phrases I wish I could find mor...
puttin' on the dog, smarty, smarty ha..., murgatroyd, treshstra, puissance, corpuscle, socker kaka, peckish, hullabaloo, salvo, holy guacamole, b..., cascade and 112 more...
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quality words
This is a mix of new words I've read studying for the GRE verbal and words I use normally. I also check back on these words if I don't use them often enough.
ineffable, septuagenarian, sesquipedalian, argyle, coalescence, profundity, vivisepulture, defenestrate, concatenate, usurp, diatribe, veracious and 461 more...
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tree's Words
aphasia, anhedonia, promontory, misandry, amanuensis, asymptote, penultimate, muslin, tundra, calico, kinaesthesia, rutabaga and 209 more...
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ktrey's wordlist
Words that I like.
Many may be lexicographically impotent due to a lack of citations and definition. Hopefully I'll be able to rectify this eventually.velleity, dispositive, bloviate, bibulous, fungible, concupiscence, avuncular, carnaptious, thrawn, hypocoristic, diegesis, lagniappe and 928 more...
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words that make me happy inside
amanuensis, inamorata, armigerous, yurt, fugacious, ephemeral, gambit, defenestration, orotund, toper, teuchter, apostasy and 90 more...
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Infinite Jest
Words taken from Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace.
prorector, monograph, post-fourier, snuffle, rototremble, creatus, enfilade, subanimalistic, balletic, espadrilles, leonine, cirri and 1153 more...
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hedges's Words
wii, crepuscule, adumbrate, concatenation, sufi, qawwali, furry, riot, mellifluous, conspiracy, etymology, tea cozy and 369 more...
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NTDW1
template, modal, sublingual, tandem, polycentric, septuagenarian, token, irrevocable, denotive, augural, aberrant, phlebotomy and 1188 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for triptych.

reesetee In stamp collecting, a se-tenant strip of three related stamps forming one overall design. Aug 25, 2008
dontcry I love this word because it makes me laugh. When I first heard it I thought it was one of those maps that AAA makes for your car trip!
I thought today was kind of a "tri-ish" day. May 4, 2008
quotato word
word
word
Nov 15, 2007