She primed her canvas with gesso before starting to paint.
Source: tatoeba (13557003)
Gesso
//ˈd͡ʒɛsəʊ//
Synonyms for "gesso" (2 found)
Ranked by relevance and common usage.
Related word relations
OpenGloss and ConceptNet supply richer edges like generalizations, collocations, and derivations.
More general
3 entriesderived
4 entriesis a
3 entriesrelated to
5 entriesused for
1 entriesTranslations
7 translations across 7 languages.
Bulgarian
1 entries- гипс noun (mixture of plaster of Paris and glue)
Czech
1 entries- šeps noun (mixture of plaster of Paris and glue)
Finnish
1 entries- gesso noun (mixture of plaster of Paris and glue)
Georgian
1 entries- თაბაშირი noun (mixture of plaster of Paris and glue)
Italian
1 entries- gesso noun (mixture of plaster of Paris and glue)
Polish
1 entries- gips sztukatorski noun (mixture of plaster of Paris and glue)
Portuguese
1 entries- gesso noun (mixture of plaster of Paris and glue)
Sample sentences
4 total sentences available.
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.
Source: wiktionary
To make the gesso, you need a chalk and a glue. During the Renaissance, gesso was made with gypsum, which is calcium sulphate. Terra Alba, available from art suppliers today, is a natural gypsum that makes a bright white gesso.
Source: wiktionary
2007, Robin Cormack, Icons, The British Museum Press, Harvard University Press, page 33, The idea was that this would serve as a binder for the layer of gesso or at least might help to prevent the painting from instantly cracking apart if the wood split at any time.
Source: wiktionary
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.