reredos

views updated May 17 2018

reredos. Ornamental facing or screen behind an altar in a church, free-standing or forming part of the retable. In larger churches it separates the choir from the retrochoir, Ladychapel, and other parts to the liturgical east, and is often found enriched with statues in niches, pinnacles, etc. Another form of medieval reredos was the triptych.

A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture JAMES STEVENS CURL

reredos

views updated May 23 2018

rere·dos / ˈrerəˌdäs; ˈri(ə)rə-/ • n. (pl. same) Christian Church an ornamental screen covering the wall at the back of an altar.

The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English

reredos

views updated May 17 2018

reredos an ornamental screen covering the wall at the back of an altar. The word comes (in late Middle English) via Anglo-Norman French from Old French areredos, from arere ‘behind’ + dos ‘back’.

The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable ELIZABETH KNOWLES

reredos

views updated Jun 11 2018

reredos ornamental screen at the back of an altar; (hist.) back of a fireplace. XIV. — AN. *reredos, aphetic of OF. areredos, f. arere behind + dos back.

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