baldacchin

plural baldacchins · alternative baldacchino · alternative baldachin · alternative baldachino · alternative baldakin · alternative baldaquin · alternative baudekin · alternative baudekyn · alternative baudkin · alternative baudkyn · alternative bawdekin

1. archaicuncountableA rich, embroidered brocade used for clothing in the Middle Ages, the web being gold and the woof silk.
2. countableA canopy suspended over an altar or throne, originally made of this fabric; a ciborium.

   Bernini had already provided the chief coup de théâtre of the basilica's interior, the monumental bronze canopy or baldachino over the high altar and tomb of St Peter.

   2009, Diarmaid MacCulloch, A History of Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years, Penguin, published 2010, page 682

3. countableA building in the form of a canopy, or a crown supported by pillars for the covering of an altar; a canopy carried over the host in Roman Catholic countries.

   BALDACHIN is a Building in form of a Canopy, or Crown ſupported by Pillars, often ſerving for the Covering of an Altar; Alſo a Canopy carried over the Hoſt in Popiſh Countries.

   [1721, N[athan] Bailey, “BALDACHIN”, in An Universal Etymological English Dictionary: […], London: […] E. Bell, J. Darby, […], →OCLC, column 1