Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A coarse, shaggy woolen cloth with an uncut nap.
  • noun A dense, low-pile surface, as in carpeting, resembling such cloth.
  • noun A plain or decorated horizontal part of an entablature between the architrave and cornice.
  • noun A decorative horizontal band, as along the upper part of a wall in a room.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun In architecture, that part of an entablature which is between the architrave and the cornice; also, any longitudinal decorative feature or band of extended length, occupying a position, in architecture or decoration, more or less similar to that of the frieze in an entablature.
  • noun A thick and warm woolen cloth used for rough outer garments since the fourteenth century.
  • noun In leather manufacturing, an imperfection in leather, sometimes appearing in the preparatory processes of tanning.
  • Made of the napped or shaggy cloth called frieze.
  • To border; embroider; ornament the edge of.
  • To furnish with a frieze.
  • To form a nap on, as cloth, like the nap of frieze; furnish with a nap; frizzle; curl: used especially in the past participle: as, a friezed stuff or garment.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun That part of the entablature of an order which is between the architrave and cornice. It is a flat member or face, either uniform or broken by triglyphs, and often enriched with figures and other ornaments of sculpture.
  • noun Any sculptured or richly ornamented band in a building or, by extension, in rich pieces of furniture. See Illust. of column.
  • noun A kind of coarse woolen cloth or stuff with a shaggy or tufted (friezed) nap on one side.
  • transitive verb To make a nap on (cloth); to friz. See friz, v. t., 2.
  • transitive verb a machine for friezing cloth; a friezing machine.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A kind of coarse woolen cloth or stuff with a shaggy or tufted (friezed) nap on one side.
  • verb transitive To make a nap on (cloth); to friz.
  • noun architecture That part of the entablature of an order which is between the architrave and cornice. It is a flat member or face, either uniform or broken by triglyphs, and often enriched with figures and other ornaments of sculpture.
  • noun Any sculptured or richly ornamented band in a building or, by extension, in rich pieces of furniture.
  • noun A banner with a series of pictures.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun an architectural ornament consisting of a horizontal sculptured band between the architrave and the cornice
  • noun a heavy woolen fabric with a long nap

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English frise, from Old French, from Medieval Latin (pannī) frīsiī, woolen (garments), from pl. of Frīsius, Frisian.]

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[French frise, from Medieval Latin frisium, frigium, embroidery, from Latin Phrygium (opus), Phrygian (work), from Phrygia.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle French frise, from friser ("to curl").

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle French frise, ultimately from Latin Phrygium.

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Examples

  • Also in frieze, Rebecca Warren on Far From Heaven, "artificial and exultant, but so cruelly truthful it made me feel sick and afraid for three days," two by Bu�uel, two by Bresson, two more by David Lynch and so on - a fine list.

    GreenCine Daily: Shorts, 12/21. 2006

  • Nor did his presence owe anything to his dress, which was of that long-haired coarse woollen stuff they called frieze, worn, probably, by not another nobleman in the country, and regarded as fitter for a yeoman.

    St. George and St. Michael Volume I George MacDonald 1864

  • Nor did his presence owe anything to his dress, which was of that long-haired coarse woollen stuff they called frieze, worn, probably, by not another nobleman in the country, and regarded as fitter for a yeoman.

    St. George and St. Michael George MacDonald 1864

  • It was a bold move to bring back the 'frieze' - how do you think people will go with it?

    Apartment Therapy Main Jenny Butler 2010

  • It was a bold move to bring back the 'frieze' - how do you think people will go with it?

    Apartment Therapy Main Jenny Butler 2010

  • It was a bold move to bring back the 'frieze' - how do you think people will go with it?

    Apartment Therapy Main Jenny Butler 2010

  • Built of concrete and steel and completed in a dizzying 284 days, it featured luxurious touches, most notably a 15-foot copper facade known as a frieze that adorned much of the third deck.

    For 85 years, history hit home in 'House That Ruth Built' 2008

  • The frieze is a visual narrative which tells the story of the Birth of Athena (and, in other sections, the battle between Athena and Poseidon for spiritual control of the city -- not to offend any followers of Poseidon who may be hurt by the memory of their loss).

    Eleni Gage: If We Ask Nicely, Can We Have Our Marbles Back? 2009

  • It is small, but of exquisite proportions, and now perfect, with the exception of a portion of the frieze, which is in the British Museum.

    The International Monthly Magazine, Volume 5, No. 1, January, 1852 Various

  • The upper rows of stones beneath the roof and above the columns were also carved, and continuous carvings (called a frieze) ran around the top of the temple wall on the outside.

    Introductory American History Elbert Jay Benton

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