boiserie

noun

boi·​se·​rie ˌbwä-zə-ˈrē How to pronounce boiserie (audio)
: a panel or paneling of carved wood

Examples of boiserie in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
To offset the white boiserie, Leffers used Castel's graphic Manuel pattern in a mustard color on pillows throughout the space, and selected similarly graphic rugs from Marc Phillips to add warmth to the floors. Hadley Keller, House Beautiful, 22 Jan. 2020 Paris-meets-Morocco, inspired by the dual influences of the apartment: the space boasts a boiserie commissioned for Marie Antoinette's royal residence at Marly and Marc Phillips new Modern Moroccan rug collection. Hadley Keller, House Beautiful, 22 Jan. 2020 The room is a complete fantasy entirely mirrored with gilded boiserie. Ingrid Abramovitch, ELLE Decor, 7 May 2019 Versace is on the floor, chairs, and tables in the room where the the designer sits on a Baroque-style chair in front of trompe l'oeil gilt boiserie walls, and pours tea from—but of course—Versace porcelain. Lilah Ramzi, Vogue, 5 June 2018 Although the building is square, its rooms are octagonal, precisely 548 square feet each, with the mechanicals and bathrooms tucked behind the plaster and boiserie walls. Nancy Hass, New York Times, 8 May 2018 The 13-year-old, who sports two braids and a shy smile, secured her spot by winning the Miami Herald Spelling Bee in March with the word boiserie, meaning sculptured paneling, especially that of French architecture in the 18th century. Carli Teproff, miamiherald, 28 May 2017

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from French, from bois "grove, forest, wood (the material)" (going back to Old French bois, bos, bosc, going back to Old Low Franconian *boska- "shrub," going back to Germanic, by-form of *buska- "shrub, thicket") + -erie -ery — more at bush entry 1

Note: The -i- in the form bois has been variously explained. Its Gallo-Romance predecessor may have been a plural *bŏski, given that the meaning "forest" is effectively a plural of "shrub, thicket." Alternatively, a nominative *bŏsks could have resulted in a metathesis of s and k, yielding *bŏkss, whence bois.

First Known Use

1832, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of boiserie was in 1832

Dictionary Entries Near boiserie

Cite this Entry

“Boiserie.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/boiserie. Accessed 18 Dec. 2024.

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