Skip to content

friso

frieze

noun FREE-soh Rare

Origin: From Italian fregio, via Medieval Latin frisium, of uncertain origin.

Usage Note

Friso refers to the horizontal decorative band running along the upper part of a wall or between an architrave and cornice in classical architecture. It also denotes any long horizontal strip of decoration — for example, the friso del Partenón (Parthenon frieze). In interior design, a decorative border near the ceiling is also called a friso. Do not confuse with frío (cold).

Examples

"El friso del templo estaba cubierto de relieves."

Natural Translation

The temple frieze was covered in reliefs.

Free starter pack

Building your Spanish vocabulary?

Get the 100 most common Spanish words as a free PDF — one email, no spam.

Explore Spanish by topic