filigree

English

WOTD – 9 March 2010

A sterling dish, in filigree

Alternative forms

• filagree

Etymology

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] French filigrane, from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Italian filigrana, from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Latin fīlum (“thread”) + grānum (“grain”)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfɪl.ɪ.ɡɹiː/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

filigree (plural filigrees)

1. A delicate and intricate ornamentation made from gold or silver (or sometimes other metal) twisted wire.
   • 1844, Robert Browning, "The Labratory":

     To carry pure death in an earring, a casket,

     A signet, a fan-mount, a filigree basket!

2. A design resembling such intricate ornamentation.
   • 1848, William Makepeace Thackeray, Vanity Fair, Chapter 1:

     But why speak about her? It is probable that we shall not hear of her again from this moment to the end of time, and that when the great filigree iron gates are once closed on her, she and her awful sister will never issue therefrom into this little world of history.

Translations

a delicate and intricate ornamentation made from gold or silver twisted wire

• Albanian: filigran (sq) m
• Armenian: ֆիլիգրան (hy) (filigran)
• Basque: filigrana
• Bulgarian: филигран (bg) m (filigran)
• Catalan: filigrana (ca) f
• Czech: filigrán (cs) n
• Danish: filigran (da) n
• Dutch: filigraan (nl) n
• Esperanto: filigrano
• Finnish: filigraani (fi)
• French: filigrane (fr) m
• German: Filigran n
• Hungarian: filigrán
• Ido: filigrano (io)
• Indonesian: filigran (id)
• Italian: filigrana (it) f
• Kyrgyz: филигрань (filigran)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Lithuanian: filigranas m
• Macedonian: филигран m (filigran)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: filigran (no) n

  Nynorsk: filigran n

• Polish: filigran (pl) m
• Romanian: filigran (ro) n
• Russian: филигра́нь (ru) f (filigránʹ)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: филѝгра̄н m

  Roman: filìgrān (sh) m

• Slovak: filigrán n
• Slovene: filigran (sl) n
• Spanish: filigrana f
• Swedish: filigran (sv) n
• Turkish: telkârî
• Ukrainian: філігрань (uk) f (filihranʹ)

a design resembling such intricate ornamentation

• Catalan: filigrana (ca) f
• Danish: filigran (da) n
• Finnish: filigraanikuvio
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• French: filigrane (fr) m
• Italian: filigrana (it) f
• Russian: филигра́нная рабо́та f (filigránnaja rabóta)

Verb

filigree (third-person singular simple present filigrees, present participle filigreeing, simple past and past participle filigreed)

1. (transitive) To decorate something with intricate ornamentation made from gold or silver twisted wire.

Translations

to decorate something with intricate ornamentation made from gold or silver twisted wire

• Catalan: filigranar (ca)
• French: filigraner (fr)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Spanish: afiligranar (es)