Dictionary

drapery en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈdɹeɪpəɹi/
• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

From Middle English draperie, from Old French draperie, from drap (“drape, sheet, large cloth”), ultimately of Germanic origin.

Meanings

1. (uncountable) Cloth draped gracefully in folds.
2. (countable) A piece of cloth, hung vertically as a curtain; a drape.
   • The windows gleamed with light through the boughs—a small open space gave to view the left wing of the building—he could distinctly see the long range of illuminated apartments, figures moving to and fro, and the richly coloured fall of the draperies. 1831, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XVIII, in Romance and Reality. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC, page 306:
3. (countable, uncountable) The occupation of a draper; cloth-making, or dealing in cloth.
   • He made also statutes for the maintenance of drapery and the keeping of wools within the realm 1622, Francis, Lord Verulam, Viscount St. Alban [i.e. Francis Bacon], The Historie of the Raigne of King Henry the Seventh, […], London: […] W[illiam] Stansby for Matthew Lownes, and William Barret, →OCLC:
4. (countable, uncountable) Cloth, or woollen materials in general.
   • people who ought to be weighing out grocery or measuring out drapery 1859, Thomas Macaulay, The Life of William Pitt:

Forms

Deriveds

draperylike · draperied · overdrapery

Relateds

ale-drapery

Translations (20)

pt cortina (countable: a piece of cloth, hung vertically as a curtain) · ro perdea (countable: a piece of cloth, hung vertically as a curtain) · ota چوقه (uncountable: cloth draped gracefully in folds) · fr rideau (countable: a piece of cloth, hung vertically as a curtain) · ga éadaitheoireacht (the occupation of a draper) · fi verho (countable: a piece of cloth, hung vertically as a curtain) · pdt Väahank (countable: a piece of cloth, hung vertically as a curtain) · ca cortina (countable: a piece of cloth, hung vertically as a curtain) · pt drapeado (uncountable: cloth draped gracefully in folds) · bg драперия (uncountable: cloth draped gracefully in folds) · eo kurteno (countable: a piece of cloth, hung vertically as a curtain) · sv draperi (countable: a piece of cloth, hung vertically as a curtain) · fi drapeeraus (uncountable: cloth draped gracefully in folds) · eo drapiraĵo (uncountable: cloth draped gracefully in folds) · ro draperie (countable: a piece of cloth, hung vertically as a curtain) · eo drapiraĵo (countable: a piece of cloth, hung vertically as a curtain) · es cortina (countable: a piece of cloth, hung vertically as a curtain) · gl cortina (countable: a piece of cloth, hung vertically as a curtain) · de Vorhang (countable: a piece of cloth, hung vertically as a curtain) · it tenda (countable: a piece of cloth, hung vertically as a curtain)