embroidery

em·broi·dery

noun \im-ˈbrȯi-d(ə-)rē\

plural em·broi·der·ies

Definition of EMBROIDERY

1

a : the art or process of forming decorative designs with hand or machine needlework

b : a design or decoration formed by or as if by embroidery

c : an object decorated with embroidery

2

: elaboration by use of decorative and often fictitious detail

3

: something pleasing or desirable but unimportant <considered the humanities mere educational embroidery>

Examples of EMBROIDERY

1. She learned embroidery from her grandmother.
2. His stories about his travels include a good deal of embroidery.

First Known Use of EMBROIDERY

14th century

Related to EMBROIDERY

Synonyms

needlework

Antonyms

meiosis, understatement

Related Words

crewel, cross-stitch, needlepoint; fagoting (or faggoting), hemstitch, smocking; fancywork

Near Antonyms

belittlement, disparagement, minimizing, poor-mouthing

embroidery

noun    (Concise Encyclopedia)

Detail of an embroidered waistcoat, French, 1800–25; in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New …—Courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, gift of United Piece Dye Works, 1936

Art of decorating textiles with needle and thread. Among the basic techniques are cross-stitch, crewel work, and quilting. The Persians and Greeks wore quilted garments as armor. The earliest surviving examples of embroidery are Scythian (c. 5th–3rd century BC). The most notable extant Chinese examples are the imperial silk robes of the Qing dynasty (1644–1911/12). Islamic embroideries (16th–17th century) show stylized geometric patterns based on animal and plant shapes. Northern European embroidery was mostly ecclesiastical until the Renaissance. European skills and conventions prevailed in North America in the 17th–18th century. The Native Americans embroidered skins and bark with dyed porcupine quills; later the beads they acquired in trade took the place of quills. The indigenous peoples of Central America produced a kind of embroidery with feathers. The Bayeux Tapestry is the most famous surviving piece of needlework.