babery

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• Babery — Bab er*y, n. [Perh. orig. for baboonery. Cf. {Baboon}, and also {Babe}.] Finery of a kind to please a child. [Obs.] Painted babery. Sir P. Sidney. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

• Babery — Grotesque images used as decoration in architecture, also in illuminated MSS. Today, we call them gargoyles . [< MdEngl. babywynrie] Cf. Babewyn …   Dictionary of Medieval Terms and Phrases

• English words first attested in Chaucer — Contents 1 Etymology 2 List 2.1 Canterbury Tales General Prologue …   Wikipedia

• Baber-lipped — Thick lipped. Cf. Babery; Babewyn …   Dictionary of Medieval Terms and Phrases

• Babewyn — Any of the ugly or demonic creatures which populate medieval artwork; many are to be found cut in *cathedral stone, tucked away from first gaze. [< OldFr. babuin = grimace, baboon; MdEngl. babywynrie = something monstrous] Cf. Babery; Bagwyn;… …   Dictionary of Medieval Terms and Phrases

• Gargoyle — A grotesque figure, e.g. on the gutter of a roof, through whose mouth rainwater spouts; a distinctive feature of *Gothic architecture. [< OldFr. gargouille = throat; thus the passage of water from the mouth] Cf. Babery; Blemmya …   Dictionary of Medieval Terms and Phrases