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filigree

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fil⋅i⋅gree

  [fil-i-gree] noun, adjective, verb, -greed, -gree⋅ing.
Use filigree in a Sentence
–noun
1. delicate ornamental work of fine silver, gold, or other metal wires, esp. lacy jewelers' work of scrolls and arabesques.
2. anything very delicate or fanciful: a filigree of frost.
–adjective
3. composed of or resembling filigree.
–verb (used with object)
4. to adorn with or form into filigree.
Also, filagree, fillagree.

Origin:
1685–95; earlier filigreen, var. of filigrain
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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fil·i·gree   (fĭl'ĭ-grē')   
n.  

  1. Delicate and intricate ornamental work made from gold, silver, or other fine twisted wire.

    1. An intricate, delicate, or fanciful ornamentation.

    2. A design resembling such ornamentation: filigrees of frosting on a cake.

tr.v.   fil·i·greed, fil·i·gree·ing, fil·i·grees
To decorate with or as if with filigree.

[Alteration of French filigrane, from Italian filigrana : Latin fīlum, thread; see gwhī- in Indo-European roots + Latin grānum, grain; see gə-no- in Indo-European roots.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

filigree 
1693, shortening of filigreen (1668), from Fr. filigrane "filigree," from It. filigrana, from L. filum "thread" + granum "grain."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Encyclopedia

filigree

delicate, lacelike ornamental openwork composed of intertwined wire threads of gold or silver, widely used since antiquity for jewelry. The art consists of curling, twisting, or plaiting fine, pliable metal threads and soldering them at their points of contact with each other and, if there is one, with the metal groundwork.

Learn more about filigree with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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