frieze

1 of 2

noun (1)

1
: a heavy durable coarse wool and shoddy fabric with a rough surface
2
: a pile surface of uncut loops or of patterned cut and uncut loops

frieze

2 of 2

noun (2)

1
: the part of an entablature between the architrave (see architrave sense 1) and the cornice (see cornice entry 1 sense 1)
2
: a sculptured or richly ornamented band (as on a building or piece of furniture)
3
: a band, line, or series suggesting a frieze
a constant frieze of visitors wound its way around the … ruinsMollie Panter-Downes
friezelike adjective

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Frieze and Clothing

Both of the frieze homographs derive from French, but each entered that language through a different channel. The woolen homograph is from the Middle Dutch word vriese, which also refers to coarse wool. The other homograph of frieze is from the Latin word frisium, meaning "embroidered cloth." That word evolved from phrygium and Phrygia, the name of an ancient country of Asia Minor whose people excelled in metalwork, wood carving, and (unsurprisingly) embroidery. That embroidery lineage influenced the use of frieze for the middle division of an entablature, which commonly has a decorated surface resembling embroidered cloth.

Examples of frieze in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Noun
On Wednesday, behind the office building where there are wall friezes created by McGraw-Hill, shy deer and a jackrabbit darted away. Richard Halstead, Mercury News, 31 July 2025 Instead, Adams places his characters like figures in a frieze, posing against a sweeping panoply of history. Justin Davidson, Vulture, 13 May 2025 Bach’s Mass in B Minor begins with a majestic howl of pain—four adagio bars that combine formal grandeur with writhing interior lines, as if figures in a cathedral frieze of the Last Judgment were coming to life. Alex Ross, New Yorker, 23 June 2025 High-relief friezes and stone mosaics of human figures suggest Gran Pajatén’s central cultural role. Eli Wizevich, Smithsonian Magazine, 4 June 2025 See All Example Sentences for frieze

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

Middle English frise, from Anglo-French, from Middle Dutch vriese

Noun (2)

Middle French frise, perhaps from Medieval Latin phrygium, frisium embroidered cloth, from Latin phrygium, from neuter of Phrygius Phrygian, from Phrygia

First Known Use

Noun (1)

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun (2)

1563, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of frieze was in the 15th century

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Cite this Entry

“Frieze.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/frieze. Accessed 20 Aug. 2025.

Kids Definition

frieze

noun
ˈfrēz
: a sculptured or ornamental band (as around a building)

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