Passepartout
mat; window mount (for framing artwork)
noun pas-par-TOO Rare
Origin: from French passe-partout, master key
Usage Note
Passepartout is the decorative cardboard mat placed around a print or drawing within a frame, creating a border and protecting the work from glass contact. Neutral noun borrowed from French; common in framing and exhibition contexts.
Examples
"Der Aquarelldruck erhielt einen cremefarbenen Passepartout und einen schlichten Holzrahmen."
Natural Translation
The watercolour print was given a cream-coloured mat and a simple wooden frame.
Literal Translation
The watercolour-print received a cream-coloured passepartout and a plain wooden frame.
Related Words
- Abguss cast, casting (plaster or metal replica of a sculpture)
- Abstraktion abstraction (non-representational art)
- Acrylfarbe acrylic paint
- Akanthus acanthus (decorative leaf motif)
- Akt nude
- Aktmalerei nude painting; figure painting
- Aktmodell life model; nude model (for drawing or painting)
- Aktzeichnung life drawing, figure drawing (of the nude)
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