Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun An ornamental hanging of rich fabric, as behind an altar.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A hanging of stuff, silk, satin, damask, or cloth of gold at the back of an altar and sometimes also at the sides of the chancel.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun an ornamental hanging of rich fabric hung behind the altar of a church or at the sides of a chancel
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
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Examples
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"Constantine Fighting the Lion" from a twelve-piece set, plus baldachin with dossal, of the Story of Constantine Design and cartoon by Pietro da Cortona, ca. 1636
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Leaning heavily upon the lady, at the end he won to her maiden's chamber, where there was a fair bed covered with a rich dossal of broidered silk, edged with fur.
French Mediaeval Romances from the Lays of Marie de France Marie de France
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And the Earl's old hawk, with its feathers all stiff and sparse, perched on the dossal of the Earl's chair and the floor was pranked with rushes and sweet herbs -- the first of the spring; and
Harold : the Last of the Saxon Kings — Volume 05 Edward Bulwer Lytton Lytton 1838
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When viewing voting constituencies, the most dossal and inactive people are found among the retired military members and their dependents.
NewsByUs 2010
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When viewing voting constituencies, the most dossal and inactive people are found among the retired military members and their dependents.
AmericanDaily 2010
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Wherefore he presented the scene that he had wrought in bronze to Cosimo de 'Medici, who after a time had it placed on the dossal of the altar in the old S.cristy of S. Lorenzo, where it is to be found at present; and that of Donato was placed in the
Lives of the Most Eminent Painters Sculptors and Architects Vol. 02 (of 10), Berna to Michelozzo Michelozzi Giorgio Vasari 1542
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Very beautiful, likewise, are the Maries that he made on the altar-dossal, lamenting the
Lives of the Most Eminent Painters Sculptors and Architects Vol. 02 (of 10), Berna to Michelozzo Michelozzi Giorgio Vasari 1542
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After this, he painted the dossal of S. Cosimo and S. Damiano in the
Lives of the Most Eminent Painters Sculptors and Architects Vol. 02 (of 10), Berna to Michelozzo Michelozzi Giorgio Vasari 1542
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And the Earl's old hawk, with its feathers all stiff and sparse, perched on the dossal of the Earl's chair and the floor was pranked with rushes and sweet herbs -- the first of the spring; and Githa's feet were on her stool, and she leaned her proud face on the small hand which proved her descent from the Dane, and rocked herself to and fro, and thought of her son Wolnoth in the court of the
Harold : the Last of the Saxon Kings — Complete Edward Bulwer Lytton Lytton 1838
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a _dossal_ -- a decorated curtain of as rich material as circumstances will allow.
qms commented on the word dossal
The cathedral of John the Apostle
Contains a small shred of his fossil
And aft of the altar
With candles and psalter
A wonderful cloth-of-gold dossal.
March 6, 2019