dado Arch.
(ˈdeɪdəʊ)
[a. It. dado die, cube (= Pr. dat, OF. det, dé):—L. datum: see die.]
1. The block or cube, with plane faces, forming the body of a pedestal, between the base mouldings and the cornice; the die.
| 1664 Evelyn tr. Freart's Archit. 124 [The Pedestal] is likewise called Truncus the Trunk.. also Abacus, Dado, Zocco, &c. 1688 R. Holme Armoury iii. 102/1 Dado or Dye is a flat in a Cornice or Pedestal. 1816 J. Smith Panorama Sc. & Art I. 171 Each central portion, as dado of pedestal, shaft of column. 1820 T. Cromwell Excurs. Ireland ii. 81 The dado of the pedestal, above the entablature. |
2. The finishing of wood running along the lower part of the walls of a room, made to represent a continuous pedestal; strictly applied only to the flat surface between the plinth and the capping. Hence,
b. Any lining, painting, or papering of the lower part of an interior wall, of a different material or colour from that of the upper part.
| 1787 Builder's Price-Bk. 39 Dado. 3/4 inch dado, level, skirted, and caped. 1794 Ibid. 41 Whole deal dove-tailed dado and keyed. 1837 Penny Cycl. VIII. 284/2 The dado employed in the interiors of buildings is a continuous pedestal..constructed of wood, and is usually about the height of a chair-back. Its present use is to protect the stucco-work or paper of the walls. 1854 Ecclesiologist XV. 357 A dado of oak-panelling. 1858 Househ. Words No. 456. 66 (The Alhambra) The dados, or low wainscotings, are of square glazed tiles, which form a glittering breast-high coat of mail. |
| b. 1877 Black Green Past. xl. (1878) 323 Oh, by the way, Lady Sylvia, how did your dado of Indian matting look? 1879 M. E. Braddon Vixen III. 249 Mabel insisted upon having..a sage-green wall with a chocolate dado—did you ever hear of a dado?—in the new morning-room. |
3. attrib., as
dado-moulding.
| 1837 Penny Cycl. VIII. 284 A cornice or dado moulding surmounting the die. 1852–61 Archit. Publ. Soc. Dict. s.v., The capping or surbase, sometimes called the dado molding. |