dossal, dossel
(ˈdɒsəl)
Also 7 dosel, dorsel.
[ad. med.L. dossāle, var. of dorsāle a hanging behind a seat, an altar, etc., after OF. dossel (occas. dossal), f. dos back.]
a. An ornamental cloth forming a cover for the back of a seat: = dosser1 1. arch. b. Eccl. An ornamental cloth, usually embroidered, hung at the back of the altar or at the sides of the chancel.
| 1658–1706 Phillips, A Dosel or Dorsel..a rich Canopie under which Princes sit, also the Curtain of a Chaire of State. 1848 Lytton Harold v. i, The Earl's old hawk..perched on the dossel of the Earl's chair. 1851 Ecclesiologist 324 A rich woven stuff suspended, as a dossel, behind the altar. 1866 F. G. Lee Direct. Angl. (ed. 3) 6 There should be no Cross embroidered on the Dossal where the Altar-Cross is in use. Ibid. 353 Dossel. |