Dictionary

festoon en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (Australia) audio
• (US) audio
• /fɛsˈtuːn/ (UK, US)

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- Proto-Indo-European *-s Proto-Indo-European *dʰéh₁s Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁stosder. Proto-Italic *θēstos Proto-Italic *fēstosder. Latin fēstus Latin fēsta Late Latin fēsta Italian festa Proto-Indo-European *-ōder. Proto-Indo-European *-Hōder.? Latin -ōnem Italian -one Italian festonebor. French festonbor. English festoon Borrowed from French feston.

Meanings

1. An ornament such as a garland or chain which hangs loosely from two tacked spots.
2. A bas-relief, painting, or structural motif resembling such an ornament.
   • The half-dozen pieces […] were painted white and carved with festoons of flowers, birds and cupids. To display them the walls had been tinted a vivid blue which had now faded, but the carpet, which had evidently been stored and recently relaid, retained its original turquoise. 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 1, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:
3. A raised cable with light globes attached.
4. A cloud on Jupiter that hangs out of its home belt or zone into an adjacent area forming a curved finger-like image or a complete loop back to its home belt or zone.
5. Any of a series of wrinkles on the backs of some ticks.
6. A specific style of electric light bulb consisting of a cylindrical enclosure with two points of contact on either end providing power to the filament or diode.
7. Two sets of rollers used to create a buffer of material on web handling equipment.
8. Any of various papilionid butterflies of the genus Zerynthia.
9. Texturing applied to a denture to simulate human tissue.

Forms

Deriveds

festoony · festoon pine · festooner · festoonery

Translations (43)

eo festono (ornament which hangs loosely from two tacked spots) · tl peston (architecture: bas-relief, painting, or structural motif resembling a festoon) · fr guirlande (architecture: bas-relief, painting, or structural motif resembling a festoon) · uk фесто́н (architecture: bas-relief, painting, or structural motif resembling a festoon) · fi koristeköynnös (ornament which hangs loosely from two tacked spots) · es festón (architecture: bas-relief, painting, or structural motif resembling a festoon) · sv festong (ornament which hangs loosely from two tacked spots) · es guirnalda luminosa (cable with light globes attached) · nl lofwerk (architecture: bas-relief, painting, or structural motif resembling a festoon) · pt festão (architecture: bas-relief, painting, or structural motif resembling a festoon) · ru гирля́нда (ornament which hangs loosely from two tacked spots) · bg гирлянда (ornament which hangs loosely from two tacked spots) · uk гірля́нда (architecture: bas-relief, painting, or structural motif resembling a festoon) · de Feston (architecture: bas-relief, painting, or structural motif resembling a festoon) · pt guirlanda (ornament which hangs loosely from two tacked spots) · ro feston (ornament which hangs loosely from two tacked spots) · de Feston (ornament which hangs loosely from two tacked spots) · nl festoen (architecture: bas-relief, painting, or structural motif resembling a festoon) · de Girlande (ornament which hangs loosely from two tacked spots) · nl festoen (ornament which hangs loosely from two tacked spots) · it festone (architecture: bas-relief, painting, or structural motif resembling a festoon) · af festoen (ornament which hangs loosely from two tacked spots) · gl festón (ornament which hangs loosely from two tacked spots) · da feston (architecture: bas-relief, painting, or structural motif resembling a festoon) · ru фестон (architecture: bas-relief, painting, or structural motif resembling a festoon) · bg фестон (architecture: bas-relief, painting, or structural motif resembling a festoon) · da guirlande (ornament which hangs loosely from two tacked spots) · fi valoketju (cable with light globes attached) · sv festong (architecture: bas-relief, painting, or structural motif resembling a festoon) · da lyskæde (cable with light globes attached) · fi silta (astronomy: cloud formation on Jupiter) · fr guirlande lumineuse (cable with light globes attached) · fr feston (architecture: bas-relief, painting, or structural motif resembling a festoon) · cs girlanda (ornament which hangs loosely from two tacked spots) · sv ljusslinga (cable with light globes attached) · de Lichterkette (cable with light globes attached) · sv girlang (ornament which hangs loosely from two tacked spots) · fr guirlande (ornament which hangs loosely from two tacked spots) · is blómsveigur (ornament which hangs loosely from two tacked spots) · fr feston (ornament which hangs loosely from two tacked spots) · pl feston (architecture: bas-relief, painting, or structural motif resembling a festoon) · sv girlang (architecture: bas-relief, painting, or structural motif resembling a festoon) · it ghirlanda (ornament which hangs loosely from two tacked spots)

festoon en · VERB

Pronunciation

• (Australia) audio
• (US) audio
• /fɛsˈtuːn/ (UK, US)

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- Proto-Indo-European *-s Proto-Indo-European *dʰéh₁s Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁stosder. Proto-Italic *θēstos Proto-Italic *fēstosder. Latin fēstus Latin fēsta Late Latin fēsta Italian festa Proto-Indo-European *-ōder. Proto-Indo-European *-Hōder.? Latin -ōnem Italian -one Italian festonebor. French festonbor. English festoon Borrowed from French feston.

Meanings

1. To decorate as if with ornaments, such as garlands or chains, which hang loosely from two tacked spots.
   • The tree trunks and the creepers that festooned them lost themselves in a green dusk thirty feet above him, and all about was the undergrowth. 1954, William Golding, chapter 3, in Lord of the Flies, →ISBN, page 48:
2. To make festoons.
3. To decorate or bedeck abundantly.
   • Some teachers festoon every spare inch of wall with vocabulary choices or maths techniques to use, which look great at first, but to some children might appear quite daunting. You'll probably see unfamiliar acronyms such as Walt (We Are Learning To). Be sure to ask what they stand for and how they are used in practice. 2014 September 23, “Choosing a primary school: a teacher's guide for parents”, in The Guardian:
   • The room into which Lieutenant Said led Cora was obviously the debriefing room of a lab complex. Schematics models, handwritten papers, and extra haptic terminals festooned the walls, and the circular table had a built-in holo projector. 2017 November, N. K. Jemisin, Mac Walters, chapter 10, in Mass Effect Andromeda: Initiation, 1st edition (Science Fiction), Titan Books, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 179:
   • Many seats carry reservation labels, while the luggage racks are festooned with backpacks and suitcases. 2022 November 30, Paul Bigland, “Destination Oban: a Sunday in Scotland”, in RAIL, number 971, page 77:
   • A mysterious woman who shows up at a funeral more droopily festooned in black than the widow is making what is known as a fashion statement. 2005, Judith Martin, Miss Manners' Guide to Excruciatingly Correct Behavior, Norton, page 804:
   • He was bewildered by how the car was festooned with polka dots.
   • Most mistletoes are "hemiparasites." This means they don't rely on their hosts for all their needs: Instead, they harvest the sun's energy to make some sugars for themselves. Nonetheless, if you're a tree, you don't want to be festooned with them. Two or three shouldn't be a problem, but dozens of mistletoes can lead to water stress, insect infestation or even death. 2014 December 23, Olivia Judson, “The hemiparasite season [print version: Under the hemiparasite, International New York Times, 24–25 December 2014, p. 7]”, in The New York Times:
4. (transitive) To apply texturing to (a denture) to simulate human tissue.

Forms

Translations (19)

mi tākeke (to hang ornaments which hang loosely from two tacked spots) · cs ozdobit (to decorate) · ru украша́ть гирляндами (to hang ornaments which hang loosely from two tacked spots) · pt festoar (to hang ornaments which hang loosely from two tacked spots) · it inghirlandare (to hang ornaments which hang loosely from two tacked spots) · pt festonar (to hang ornaments which hang loosely from two tacked spots) · es festonear (to make festoons) · ru украша́ть фестонами (to hang ornaments which hang loosely from two tacked spots) · cs ověšet (to hang ornaments which hang loosely from two tacked spots) · es festonar (to make festoons) · pt afestoar (to hang ornaments which hang loosely from two tacked spots) · ca engarlandar (to hang ornaments which hang loosely from two tacked spots) · fi koristaa köynnöksin (to hang ornaments which hang loosely from two tacked spots) · fr enguirlander (to hang ornaments which hang loosely from two tacked spots) · ro festona (to hang ornaments which hang loosely from two tacked spots) · cs vyzdobit (to decorate) · es engalanar (to hang ornaments which hang loosely from two tacked spots) · es enguirnaldar (to hang ornaments which hang loosely from two tacked spots) · cs ozdobit (to hang ornaments which hang loosely from two tacked spots)