Skip to content

The word for today is…

festoon (noun, verb):

noun
1 : a decorative chain or strip hanging between two points
2 : a carved, molded, or painted ornament representing a decorative chain

verb
1 : to hang or form festoons on
2 : to shape into festoons

Source : Merriam -Webster

Etymology : The noun festoon first appeared in the 1600s when it was used, as it still is today, to refer to decorative chains or strips hung between two points. (It can also refer to a carved, molded, or painted ornament representing such a chain.) After a century’s worth of festoon-adorning, the verb festoon made an entrance, and people began to festoon with their festoons—that is, they draped and adorned with them. The verb has since then acquired additional, more general senses related not only to decorating, but to something appearing on the surface of something, as in “a sweater festooned with purple unicorns.” Perhaps unsurprisingly, this celebratory-sounding and party-associated word traces back (by way of French and Italian) to Latin festa, the plural of festum, meaning “festival.”

If you enjoyed this BFD word of the day please consider sharing it with your friends and, especially, your children.

Latest