Dictionary

girandole en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈdʒɪrənˌdoʊl/ (US)
• /ˈd͡ʒɪɹəndəʊl/ (UK)

Etymology

From French girandole, from Italian girandola, from girare (“to turn, gyrate”).

Meanings

1. An ornamental branched candle holder, sometimes with a mirror behind.
   • As I sat in my usual nook, and looked at him with the light of the girandoles on the mantelpiece beaming full over him... 1847 October 16, Currer Bell [pseudonym; Charlotte Brontë], chapter XVIII, in Jane Eyre. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: Smith, Elder, and Co., […], →OCLC:
   • It was a scene of gaiety, glitter, and show; of richly–dressed people, handsome mirrors, chalked floors, girandoles and wax–candles; and in all parts of the scene, gliding from spot to spot in silent softness, bowing obsequiously to this party, nodding familiarly to that, and smiling complacently on all, was the sprucely–attired person of Angelo Cyrus Bantam, Esquire, the Master of the Ceremonies. 1836 March – 1837 October, Charles Dickens, “c35”, in The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1837, →OCLC:
2. (qualifier:pyrotechnics) A type of firework which creates a "whirling top" or "flying saucer" effect.

Forms

Deriveds

girandole clock

Translations (8)

it girandola (an ornamental branched candle holder, sometimes with a mirror behind) · be жырандо́ль (an ornamental branched candle holder, sometimes with a mirror behind) · cs girandola (an ornamental branched candle holder, sometimes with a mirror behind) · pt girândola (an ornamental branched candle holder, sometimes with a mirror behind) · uk жирандо́ль (an ornamental branched candle holder, sometimes with a mirror behind) · ru жирандо́ль (an ornamental branched candle holder, sometimes with a mirror behind) · fr girandole (an ornamental branched candle holder, sometimes with a mirror behind) · pl żyrandol (an ornamental branched candle holder, sometimes with a mirror behind)