topiary

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Archived revision by Rukhabot (talk | contribs) as of 05:13, 31 October 2019.
Jump to navigation Jump to search

English

English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Etymology

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Latin topiarius (of or relating to ornamental gardening; an ornamental garden, an ornamental gardener), from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Latin topia (ornamental gardening, landscape painting), from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Ancient Greek τόπια (tópia, artistic representation in which natural or artificial features of a place are used as the medium), plural of (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Ancient Greek τόπιον (tópion, field, landscape), from τόπος (tópos, place). The adjective use dates to 1592, the noun use dates to 1908.

Adjective

topiary (not comparable)

  1. Of, or relating to art of topiaries.
    • 1910, American homes and gardens: Volume 7
      As the topiary art has been allowed to practically die out, it is difficult to secure the services of skilled clippers.
  2. Of a tree or shrub, trimmed in artistic shape.

Translations

Noun

topiary (countable and uncountable, plural topiaries)

  1. (uncountable) Art or practice of trimming shrubs or trees in artistic or ornamental shapes, e.g. of animals.
    • 1994, Robert Jordan, Lord of Chaos, prologue
      The palace garden might have had a semblance of coolness had there been any trees, but the tallest things were fanciful topiary, tortured into the shapes of running horses or bears performing tumblers’ tricks or the like.
  2. (countable) A garden decorated with such art.
  3. (countable) One such shrub or tree.
    We have topiaries for sale.

Translations

See also