tracery

UK/ˈtɹeɪsəɹi/US/ˈtɹeɪsəɹi/

nounC2Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #15,222 of 15,258Too rare in one of the two pools to compare — fewer than 20 uses in speech or in writing

Other forms: traceries

Tracery is fine ornamental stonework in a window. Gothic tracery.

It holds the glass as well as decorating, which is why the pattern grew more elaborate as masons got better. Tracery is what lets a medieval window be so large without falling out.

Definitions of tracery

1nountraceryFine ornamental stonework in a window.C2
“The tracery in the east window took four years to cut.”

tracery is stonework.

Where it comes from

Old French
trace — an outline, track, trace
Middle English
trace
English
trace
English, today
tracery

From trace + -ery. trace comes from Middle English trace, traas, from Old French trace (“an outline, track, trace”), from the verb (see below).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in A Song of Ice and Fire

Practise this word

tracery in the wild

The use of the pointed arch in turn led to the development of the pointed rib vault and flying buttresses, combined with elaborate tracery and stained glass windows.
Gothic architecture
The windows are divided into segments by stone mullions and tracery.
Rose window
A circular window without tracery such as are found in many Italian churches, is referred to as an ocular window or oculus.
Rose window
The term is also used for tracery on glazed windows and doors.
Fretwork
There are two main types: plate tracery and the later bar tracery.
Tracery

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

Related words

the trace family

trace

tracery — used about once every 159,543 pages · #15,222 · point at the bar for the others

untraceable

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