Dictionary:

frieze¹

  (frēz)

1. A plain or decorated horizontal part of an entablature between the architrave and cornice.
2. A decorative horizontal band, as along the upper part of a wall in a room.

[French frise, from Medieval Latin frisium, frigium, embroidery, from Latin Phrygium (opus), Phrygian (work), from PHRYGIA.]

1. A coarse, shaggy woolen cloth with an uncut nap.
2. A dense, low-pile surface, as in carpeting, resembling such cloth.

[Middle English frise, from Old French, from Medieval Latin (pannī) frīsiī, woolen (garments), from pl. of Frīsius, Frisian.]

For more information on frieze, visit Britannica.com.

1. In Classical architecture and derivatives, the middle horizontal member of three main divisions of an entablature, above the architrave and below the cornice.
2. A decorative band at or near the top of an interior wall below the cornice.
3. In house construction, a horizontal member connecting the top row of the siding with the underside of the cornice. Also see cushion frieze.

frieze, 1

from the frieze, 2 of the Parthenon

An ornamental band that runs around a building. Friezes are usually on the exterior of a building and are often sculpted in bas-relief.

Tutor's tip: The "frieze" (a sculptured or patterned strip on a building) on the building depicts a hero as he "frees" (to release) a child from the ice, only to "freeze" (to turn to ice) to death in the bitter cold himself.

For other uses, see Frieze (disambiguation).

Frieze of the Tower of the Winds.

In architecture the frieze is the wide central section of an entablature and may be plain or — in the Ionic or Corinthian order — decorated with bas-reliefs. In an astylar wall it lies upon the architrave ('main beam') and is capped by the moldings of the cornice.

In interiors, the frieze of a room is the section of wall above the picture rail and under the crown moldings or cornice. By extension, a frieze is a long band of painted, sculpted or even calligraphic decoration in such a position, above eye-level. Frieze decorations may depict scenes in a sequence of discrete panels. The material of which the frieze is made may be plasterwork, carved wood or other decorative medium.

Frieze of animals, mythological episodes at the base of Hoysaleswara temple, India

In an example of an architectural frieze on the facade of a building, the octagonal Tower of the Winds in the Roman agora at Athens bears relief sculptures of the eight winds on its frieze.

A pulvinated frieze (or pulvino) is convex in section. Such friezes were features of 16th-century Northern Mannerism, especially in subsidiary friezes, and much employed in interior architecture and in furniture.

This concept has been generalized in the mathematical construction of Frieze patterns.

The Circus (Bath), UK. Architectural detail of the frieze showing the alternating triglyphs and decorative emblems. John Wood, architect.

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Frieze

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Dansk (Danish)
1.
n. - frise

2.
n. - række, optog, vadmel

Nederlands (Dutch)
fries (grof wollen materiaal), fries (deel van top pilaar), fries (versierde lijst/band), band/lijn/serie

Français (French)
1.
n. - (Archit) frise

2.
n. - (Tex) ratine

Deutsch (German)
1.
n. - Fries

2.
n. - Fries

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - (αρχιτ.) διάζωμα, ζωφόρος

Italiano (Italian)
rascia

Português (Portuguese)
n. - borda (f) (de papel de parede)

Русский (Russian)
фриз, бордюр, байка

Español (Spanish)
1.
n. - friso

2.
n. - paño de lana pesado para tapados

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - fris (arkitek. o texil)

中文（简体） (Chinese (Simplified))
1. 中楣, 带状装饰

2. 起绒粗呢

中文（繁體） (Chinese (Traditional))
1.
n. - 起絨粗呢

2.
n. - 中楣, 帶狀裝飾

한국어 (Korean)
1.
n. - 띠 모양의 장식품

2.
n. - 아일랜드산 모직물

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 小壁, 帯状装飾, 行列
v. - けばだてる

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) العزيز , نسيج صوفي‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮רצועת עיטור לקיר מתחת לתקרה, אפריז‬
n. - ‮בד צמר גס ושעיר‬

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