Fresco

//ˈfɹɛskoʊ// noun, verb

noun, verb ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A cool, refreshing state of the air; coolness, duskiness, shade. countable

    "[…] I [Satan] cannot ſtay Flaring in ſun-ſhine all the day: For, entre nous, we helliſh ſprites, Love more the freſco of the nights; […]"

  2. 2
    a durable method of painting on a wall by using watercolors on wet plaster wordnet
  3. 3
    An artwork made by applying water-based pigment to wet or fresh lime mortar or plaster. countable
  4. 4
    a mural done with watercolors on wet plaster wordnet
  5. 5
    The technique used to make such an artwork. uncountable
Verb
  1. 1
    To paint using fresco. ambitransitive
  2. 2
    paint onto wet plaster on a wall wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
abstractabstractionaltarpieceapply paintbedaubbedizen

Example

More examples

"A fresco was found under a layer of plaster."

Etymology

From Italian fresco, from Vulgar Latin *friscum, from Proto-Germanic *friskaz. Doublet of fresh and frisk.

Related phrases

al frescolime mortar

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.