retable

views updated Jun 11 2018

retable reredos; shelf or ledge at the back of an altar. XIX. — F. rétable, retable — Sp. retablo — medL. *retabulum, for retrotabulum (XIII) ‘structure at the back of an altar-table’, f. L. RETRO- + tabula TABLE.

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology T. F. HOAD

retable

views updated Jun 27 2018

retable.
1. Screen to the rear of an altar, rising up behind it, often richly decorated and carved, including the reredos.

2. Shelf or ornamental setting for panels behind an altar.

3. Frame around painted or other decorated panels of a reredos.

A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture JAMES STEVENS CURL

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