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The noun festoon first appeared in the 1600s when it was used, as it still is today, to refer to decorative chains or strips hung between two points. (It can also refer to a carved, molded, or painted ornament representing such a chain.) After a century’s worth of festoon-adorning, the verb festoon made an entrance, and people began to festoon with their festoons—that is, they draped and adorned with them. The verb has since then acquired additional, more general senses related not only to decorating, but to something appearing on the surface of something, as in “a sweater festooned with purple unicorns.” Perhaps unsurprisingly, this celebratory-sounding and party-associated word traces back (by way of French and Italian) to Latin festa, the plural of festum, meaning “festival.”
Synonyms
Examples of festoon in a Sentence
Jonathan M. Gitlin, Ars Technica, 21 May 2024
Bougainvillea festoons pathways in a riot of color, from coral and yellow to magenta, Jaipur pink, and mauve.
—Vasudha Rai, Condé Nast Traveler, 12 Jan. 2023
Hannah Jackson, Vogue, 10 July 2024
The redeployment of this onetime convent emphasized some of its most endearing quirks, too, retaining many of the murals painted on the walls—look for one suite, with a coffered ceiling festooned with pink roses, that is believed to have been where the Mother Superior would have slept.
—Mark Ellwood, Robb Report, 10 July 2024
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These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'festoon.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Festoon.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/festoon. Accessed 26 Jul. 2024.
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festoon
1 of 2 noun
festoon
2 of 2 verb
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