noun

diorama

dye-uh-RAH-muh/ˌdaɪəˈrɑːmə/

A three-dimensional display showing a scene in miniature.

The diorama shows a miniature woodland with trees, rocks, and a deer.

An open-front tabletop display box contains a miniature woodland scene, with visibly three-dimensional model trees, rocks, a deer, and a winding stream against a painted backdrop.

Etymology

“Through” and “sight” evoke the original display: a painting lit from behind to create an illusion of reality. The name later extended to miniature scenes made with three-dimensional objects and a painted background.

In context

Vince Venturella86:31

what somebody did with a diorama piece a long time ago with golden demon with a giant you know reaching through cave holes in blackness and it was just like the head and the hand

PMP November 2020 End of Month Review

More examples

She builds a diorama from cardboard and miniature trees.
Tiny figures stand inside the detailed diorama.
The school display includes dioramas of different habitats.

Forms

diorama · dioramas

Similar words

model: Any representation, not necessarily a miniature scene.
tableau: A tableau presents a arranged scene, sometimes life-sized or with people; a diorama commonly uses a miniature setting.