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triptych

triptych

4 9.1
A work of art like a painting that has three panels that often fold over the middle
  • noun
  • /ˈtrɪpˌtɪk/
translation icon : tríptico
  • Marie is also the model for the central fury in Gustav Klimt's Beethoven triptych "The Hostile Forces."
  • panel of the triptych
  • exterior of the triptych
  • commissioned the triptych

Examples

  • Meeting this girl just now had been like seeing the last picture of a triptych.

    Fiction book (1995)
  • And this book is a triptych of three different invented boom towns.

  • Who wants to see the triptych?

  • The addition of a small portrait in the interior of the triptych would have provided a relatively quick and easy solution.

    Academic text (1991)
  • Then you have a Reliquary triptych down below with the collection you see of the little relics made clear to you.

  • The work was originally a triptych altarpiece; the right-hand folding panel has been lost.

    Blog text (34)
  • As such, it is an homage to the magnificent painted triptychs associated with the Ethiopian Orthodox Church.

    Academic text (1997)
  • So this, this triptych, these three panels portray the timeless truth that order tends to decay, the truth of social entropy.

  • There, in the famous Piero della Francesca triptych, a hooded man kneels at the base of the cross.

    Academic text (2012)
  • The artist created a stunning triptych that showcases three distinct landscapes.

Synonyms

tryptic
vstriptych
  • Archaic
9.4

A work of art made of three panels that join to make one picture

has identical meaning but is an alternative spelling

How Many

polyptych
9.9
triptych
4 9.1
diptych
1 9.9

Surface Forms

triptych singular
triptychs plural

Morphology

triptych = tri + ptych

Partly transparent because 'tri-' signals 'three', but the root 'ptych' is not a standalone English word and is unfamiliar to most learners, so the exact sense ('three-panel/folded work') is not fully derivable from known English morphemes.

Etymology

Triptych comes from Greek parts tri- ('three') and -ptych ('fold'). You can see tri- in words like triple or tripod, and the 'fold' part explains why a triptych is three panels joined so the side panels can fold over the centre.