reredos
/ˈɹiə.dɒs/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.81 in modern English
8
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
2
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A screen or decoration behind the altar in a church, usually depicting religious iconography or images, akin to the iconostasis of the Eastern Churches.
Example Sentences
- "Near-synonym: retable (often synonymous)"
- "A bad reredos will ruin the best church ever designed; and, although a good reredos cannot convert a bad church into a good one, it may do much to lessen the offensiveness of its badness."
- "Confusion has reigned in scholarly interpretation, however, because the dark-colored leaves have shown through the succeeding coats of paint across the reredos, interfering with the later scenes."
- "There seem to be no remains of wooden reredoses of the fourteenth century, though there are a number of examples in stone."
Etymology
From Middle English reredos, from Anglo-Norman reredos, areredos; equivalent to rere (“rear”) + French dos (“back”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: reredos
Regional Pronunciation
- British English: /ˈɹiə.dɒs/
Subject
Wiktionary places this term in Military, Religion.