noun
drapery
DRAY-per-ee/ˈdreɪpəri/
Fabric arranged in folds or hung as decoration.
The window's drapery hangs in deep folds beneath a softly gathered valance.
Etymology
Old French draperie named cloth-making and a place selling clothes, while English used the word for textiles themselves. It later came to mean material used to drape something, connecting the cloth trade with decorative hangings.
In context
he rose with a sweep of the soft thick drapery—“I go to cut myself free. Come also!” “I am bound,” said the Curator.
More examples
- She chooses velvet drapery for the dining room windows.
- White drapery softens the bare walls of the reception hall.
- The heavy draperies block the afternoon sun.
Forms
drapery · draperies
drape verb — To arrange fabric in loose folds.
Similar words
- curtains
- Usually cover windows or doorways and can be drawn aside.
- hangings
- Decorate walls or other surfaces without necessarily forming folds.