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fresco

Pronunciation: /ˈfrɛskəʊ/

Translate fresco | into French | into German | into Italian
Definition of fresco

noun (plural frescoes or frescos)

  • a painting done rapidly in watercolour on wet plaster on a wall or ceiling, so that the colours penetrate the plaster and become fixed as it dries.
  • [mass noun] the method of painting frescoes, used in Roman times and by the great masters of the Italian Renaissance including Giotto, Raphael, and Michelangelo.

Derivatives

frescoed

adjective

Origin:

late 16th century: Italian, literally 'cool, fresh'. The word was first recorded in English in the phrase in fresco, representing Italian affresco, al fresco 'on the fresh (plaster)'

Spelling help

The plural of fresco (an Italian word) can be spelled either frescoes or frescos.

fresco in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of fresco in the US English dictionary

Nearby words

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