baldaquin

Variant of baldachin

or baldaquin

noun

  1. a rich brocade, formerly made of silk and gold
  2. a canopy of this or other material, carried in church processions or placed over an altar or throne
  3. a marble or stone structure like a canopy, built over an altar

Origin: < It or Fr: Fr baldaquin < It baldacchino, after Baldacco, Baghdad, where the cloth was manufactured

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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