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Glite Dictionary
fan tracery

fan tracery

9.9
Stone patterns that form on a fan-shaped ceiling in Gothic cathedrals
  • noun
  • Specialized
translation icon : tracería en abanico
  • You can see beautiful examples of fan tracery in many English Gothic cathedrals.

Examples

  • The fan tracery in the cathedral ceiling is admired for its intricate design.

  • Victorian architects revived fan tracery as a nod to medieval craftsmanship.

  • The cathedral's fan tracery is truly breathtaking.

  • Many Gothic churches feature intricate fan traceries.

  • The fan tracery in the cathedral ceiling is admired for its intricate design.

  • You can see beautiful examples of fan tracery in many English Gothic cathedrals.

  • Victorian architects revived fan tracery as a nod to medieval craftsmanship.

Synonyms

tracery
vsfan tracery
  • Specialized
1 9.4

A fine stone pattern in the top part of a church window

appears on vault surfaces rather than in upper window openings

Surface Forms

fan tracery singular
fan traceries plural

Morphology

fanned + tracery

The meaning is a direct composition of 'fan' (fan-shaped) and 'tracery' (ornamental stonework), so a learner who knows both constituents can infer it refers to tracery arranged in a fan-like pattern on vaulting. Although the term is specialized in architecture, it is not idiomatic or metaphorical and is therefore predictable from its parts.

Etymology

Fan tracery comes from the look of the stone ribs: they spread out like an open fan, and the thin, lace-like stonework is called tracery. So the name describes the 'decorative stone pattern' you see on many cathedral ceilings.