Gesso

//ˈd͡ʒɛsəʊ// noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A mixture of plaster of Paris and glue used to prepare a surface for painting. uncountable, usually

    "1994, Timothy Noad, Patricia Seligman, The Illuminated Alphabet, The Quarto Group (Chartwell Books), 2017, page 27, The combination of leaf gold and gesso is almost miraculous. No photographic reproduction can adequately show the brilliant effect of raised gesso."

  2. 2
    gypsum or plaster of Paris spread on a surface to make it suitable for painting or gilding (or a surface so prepared) wordnet
  3. 3
    A work of art done in gesso. uncountable, usually

Synonyms

All synonyms
muss bemuss-be

Example

More examples

"She primed her canvas with gesso before starting to paint."

Etymology

Borrowed from Italian gesso. Doublet of gypsum. Compare Portuguese gesso (“gypsum; plaster, cast”) and Spanish yeso (“gypsum; plaster, cast”).

Related phrases

gesso durogesso grossogesso sottileplaster of paris

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