Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word
orfray. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
orfray, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
orfray in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
orfray you have here. The definition of the word
orfray will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
orfray, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
English
Etymology
From French orfraie. Compare osprey, ossifrage.
Noun
orfray (plural orfrays)
- (obsolete) The osprey.
- Alternative spelling of orphrey
Anagrams
Middle English
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Middle French orfrais, orfreis, orfrois, and other forms, from Late Latin aurifrasium, aurifrisium, and other forms, from Latin aurum Phrygium (“gold embroidery”, literally “Phrygian gold”). In Middle English, the final -s was often reinterpreted as a plural ending.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ɔrˈfræi̯(s)/, /ˈɔrfræi̯(s)/, /ˈɔrfriː/
Noun
orfray (plural orfrays)
- Any elaborate embroidery, especially when made of gold thread.
c. 1360s (date written), Geffray Chaucer [i.e., Geoffrey Chaucer], “The Romaunt of the Rose”, in [William Thynne], editor, The Workes of Geffray Chaucer Newlye Printed, , Richard Grafton for]
Iohn Reynes , published
1542,
→OCLC,
folio cxxxii, recto, column 2:
Orfrayes freſhe, was her garlande / I whiche haue ſene a thouſande / Saw neuer ywys no garlande yet / So well wrought of ſylke as it- Her garland was of fresh orphreys; / I, who have seen a thousand of them, / Have indeed never seen a garland / So well wrought of silk as it.
- A piece of fabric) adorned with such embroidery.
- Fine embroidered decoration, especially a border or fringe composed of such embroidery.
Descendants
References