baldacchin means A rich, embroidered brocade used for clothing in the Middle Ages, the web being gold and the woof silk. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 87 out of 100.
baldacchin is pronounced /ˈbaldəkɪn/.
Why “baldacchin” is a great word
BALDACCHIN — [Noun] A ceremonial canopy, especially over an altar or throne, or the rich brocaded fabric of gold and silk from which such canopies were originally made. From French baldaquin, from Italian baldacchino, from Baldacca, a variant of Baghdad (the city in Iraq), where the fabric originated. Unlike a ciborium (a fixed architectural vault of stone) or a generic canopy (any overhead covering), a baldacchin is defined by its textile heritage and ceremonial portability. It is the heavy, gold-shot fabric casting a pool of shadow onto a kneeling king; the worn, still-gleaming embroidery swaying in a cathedral draft; the taut silk borne aloft in a sun-baked procession—a portable fragment of a fabled city’s splendor, suspended to hallow a space.
Etymology
Borrowed from French baldaquin, from Italian baldacchino, from Baldacca, a variant of Baghdad, where the material originally came from.
noun
- A rich, embroidered brocade used for clothing in the Middle Ages, the web being gold and the woof silk.
- A canopy suspended over an altar or throne, originally made of this fabric; a ciborium.“Bernini had already provided the chief coup de théâtre of the basilica's interior, the monumental bronze canopy or baldachino over the high altar and tomb of St Peter.”
- A building in the form of a canopy, or a crown supported by pillars for the covering of an altar; a canopy carried over the host in Roman Catholic countries.“BALDACHIN is a Building in form of a Canopy, or Crown ſupported by Pillars, often ſerving for the Covering of an Altar; Alſo a Canopy carried over the Hoſt in Popiſh Countries.”