Theme music by Joshua Stamper ©2006 New Jerusalem Music/ASCAP
Today's word is not the only frieze in English. The other frieze refers to a kind of heavy wool fabric. 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 frieze that we are featuring as our word today 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.
First Known Use: 15th century
in the meaning defined at sense 1
See Words from the same yearSee words that rhyme with frieze Spanish Central: Translation of frieze Nglish: Translation of frieze for Spanish speakers Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about frieze
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