arras

/ˈɛrəs/

/ˈʌræs/

Other forms: arrases

An arras is a tapestry that's hung as a decoration, especially one decorated with complex stitched designs.

There's a famous reference to an arras in Shakespeare's play Hamlet, when Polonius hides in an alcove behind an arras to eavesdrop. Imagine the kind of heavy woven tapestries you might see in a museum when you think of an arras. The name comes from the French city where they were first made, Arras in northern France. The original term for this fabric was draps d'arras, or "cloths of Arras."

Definitions of arras

1. noun

   a wall hanging of heavy handwoven fabric with pictorial designs
   synonyms: tapestry

   type of:

   hanging, wall hanging

   decoration that is hung (as a tapestry) on a wall or over a window