marquetry means A decorative technique in which veneers of wood, ivory, metal etc. are inlaid into a wooden surface to form intricate designs. Lexicurio rates it Rare gem — a strength score of 83 out of 100.
Why this word is great
MARQUETRY — [Noun] A decorative technique of inlaying thin veneers of wood, ivory, or shell into a wooden surface to form intricate pictorial or geometric patterns. From Middle French marqueterie ("inlaid work"), from marqueter ("to inlay, to checker"), literally "to make marks." Unlike "inlay," a broad term for simpler embedded contrast, or "parquetry," its strictly geometric cousin for floors, marquetry is the patient calculus of veneer painting, a meticulous assembly of a singular plane from disparate grains. It is the dappled flank of a hare forever leaping across a cabinet door, the delicate sweep of a tulip rendered in satinwood and ebony, and the deceptive depth of a trompe l'oeil drapery folded from dozens of shaded veneers—a fragile, wooden skin holding back the dark plainness of the substrate, a fleeting order carved from the very substance of time's decay.
noun
- A decorative technique in which veneers of wood, ivory, metal etc. are inlaid into a wooden surface to form intricate designs.“strawen marquetry”
- An example of this work.“Unkind people asserted that everything in his apartment was for sale and that after he had invited wealthy Americans for an excellent lunch, with vintage wines, one or two of his valuable drawings would disappear, or a marquetry commode would be replaced by one in lacquer.”