noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   A screen or decoration behind the altar in a church, usually depicting religious iconography or images, akin to the iconostasis of the Eastern Churches.

   "Near-synonym: retable (often synonymous)"

2. 2
   a painted or carved screen placed above and behind an altar or communion table wordnet
3. 3
   The back of an open fire-hearth, in medieval halls and in some later architecture inspired by them.

Synonyms

All synonyms

altarpiecealtarpiecechrismalcorporalretableretable

Example

More examples

"Near-synonym: retable (often synonymous)"

Etymology

From Middle English reredos, from Anglo-Norman reredos, areredos; equivalent to rere (“rear”) + French dos (“back”).

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