valance
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English
[edit]Alternative forms
[edit]Etymology
[edit]From Middle English valance, valans, valaunce, valence, valons. Origin uncertain. Probably from Anglo-Norman valaunce, valence, from valer (“go down, let down”), aphetic form of Old French avaler (“to descend, go down”).
Pronunciation
[edit]- Rhymes: -æləns
Noun
[edit]valance (plural valances)
- A short curtain that usually hangs along the top edge of a window.
- 1969, David G. Irwin, The Visual Arts, Taste and Criticism, page 27:
- Even the mantelpiece is adorned with a totally unfunctional tasselled valance rather like an altar frontal.
- A decorative framework used to conceal the curtain mechanism and so on at the top of a window.
- A short, decorative edging of cloth that hangs from a bed, from beneath the mattress to the floor, used to conceal the box spring or space under the bed and prevent dust from accumulating there.
- A short, decorative edging of cloth that conceals the legs of a couch, sofa, etc.
- 1938, Norman Lindsay, Age of Consent, 1st Australian edition, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, published 1962, →OCLC, page 145:
- Mortally insulted, Jasper went under the couch, where he remained with only his nose showing beneath the valance, emitting little world-weary groans at intervals, and refusing to come out for cake.
- (automotive) A low-hanging auto body panel, below a front or rear bumper, whose purpose is aerodynamic and decorative but not structural (often valance panel).
- The drooping edging of the lid of a trunk, which covers the joint when the lid is closed.
Synonyms
[edit]- (bedding): dust ruffle, bedskirt, bed ruffle
Derived terms
[edit]Translations
[edit]short curtain on top of a window
decorative framework used to conceal the curtain mechanism
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short, decorative edging of a mattress
drooping edging of the lid of a trunk
Categories:
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms derived from Anglo-Norman
- English terms derived from Old French
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- Rhymes:English/æləns
- Rhymes:English/æləns/2 syllables
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- English terms with quotations
- en:Automotive
- en:Bedding