Reredos

Pronunciation

• RP IPA: /ˈɹiɹ.dÉ’s/

Origin

From rere ("rear") + French dos ("back").

Full definition of reredos

Noun

1. A screen or decoration behind the altar in a church, usually depicting religious iconography or images.
• 1871, The Sacristy: A Quarterly Review of Ecclesiastical Art and Literature, Volume 1, John Hodges, London, page 246,A bad reredos will ruin the best church ever designed; and, although a good reredos cannot convert a bad church into a good one, it may do much to lessen the offensiveness of its badness.
• 1998, Paul V. M. Flesher, Rereading the Reredos: David, Orpheus, and Messianism in the Dura Europa Syngogue, Dān Ûrman, Paul Virgil McCracken Flesher (editors), Ancient Synagogues: Historical Analysis and Archaeological Discovery, page 363,Confusion has reigned in scholarly interpretation, however, because the dark-colored leaves have shown through the succeeding coats of paint across the reredos, interfering with the later scenes.
• 2007, F. E. Howard, English Church Woodwork, page 137,There seem to be no remains of wooden reredoses of the fourteenth century, though there are a number of examples in stone.

Anagrams

• redoers