🧶 A thick cloth 🏛️ A decorative band

frise

9.9

A decorative band along the top of walls and columns decorated with carved or painted scenes

noun
/friːz/

: friso

Restorers carefully cleaned the painted frise that runs along the upper wall of the chapel.

Examples

The museum's main hall features a beautiful frise depicting scenes from ancient mythology.
Architects often include a frise to add elegance and detail to classical buildings.
Wow! Look at that elaborate frise!
The frise in the old cathedral was beautifully painted.
The museum's main hall features a beautiful frise depicting scenes from ancient mythology.
Restorers carefully cleaned the painted frise that runs along the upper wall of the chapel.
Architects often include a frise to add elegance and detail to classical buildings.

Synonyms

frieze

vsfrise

Specialized

3 9.2

A horizontal band of carved or painted decoration on a building wall

is a decorative horizontal band used on walls or above columns

Compounds

cheval-de-frise

Specialized

9.9

A frame with many long spikes used to stop horses or soldiers from getting through

chevaux-de-frise

Archaic

9.9

A movable wooden frame with spikes that stops soldiers or horses

How Decorative

sculpture

158 3.5

relief

Specialized

16 7.3

frise

9.9

molding

Specialized

26 4.4

band

108 1.0

Surface Forms

frise singular

frises plural

Etymology

Frise comes from the French word frisé meaning 'curly' or 'crinkled', and it is like the English word frieze for a decorative band. The idea of a repeated, flowing or curved design is behind the word, so a frise is a horizontal strip of carved or painted decoration on a wall.