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tap·es·try (tăpĭ-strē)
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n. pl. tap·es·tries
1.
a. A heavy cloth woven with rich, often varicolored designs or scenes, usually hung on walls for decoration and sometimes used to cover furniture.
b. A cloth embroidered with designs or scenes, especially one made in the Middle Ages.
2. Something felt to resemble a richly and complexly designed cloth: the tapestry of world history.
tr.v. tap·es·tried (-ĭ-strēd), tap·es·try·ing, tap·es·tries (-ĭ-strēz)
1. To hang or decorate with tapestry.
2. To make, weave, or depict in a tapestry.
[Middle English tapiceri, tapstri, from Old French tapisserie, from tapisser, to cover with carpet, from tapis, carpet, from Greek tapētion, diminutive of tapēs, perhaps of Iranian origin.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
 

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

    Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

    Indo-European Roots

    Semitic Roots

    The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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