lambrequin

plural lambrequins · alternative lambrekin

1. historicalA scarf or other piece of material used as a covering for a helmet.

   A dead man (he had, I think, been suffocated with a lambrequin, there being those who practice that art) lay at the corner.

   1980, Gene Wolfe, chapter XVI, in The Shadow of the Torturer (The Book of the New Sun; 1), New York: Simon & Schuster, →ISBN, page 146

   1 more example

   'Twere as easy to woo the snow-dame that we shaped last winter in our castle yard. I did but ask her yesternight for her green veil, that I might bear it as a token or lambrequin upon my helm.

   1891, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, The White Company, New York, N.Y.; Boston, Mass.: Thomas Y[oung] Crowell & Company […], →OCLC

2. governmentA heraldic representation of such an item, often used as drapery around a coat of arms.

   Synonyms: mantling

3. USA short decorative drapery for a shelf edge or for the top of a window casing.

   Lambrequins dependent from gaudy boxings of beaten tin, gilded.

   1883, Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], Life on the Mississippi, Boston, Mass.: James R[ipley] Osgood and Company, →OCLC

   2 more examples

   […]the mirror over the mantel rested on a fringed mantel-cover of green reps, and heavy curtains of that stuff hung from gilt lambrequin frames at the window; […].

   1885, William Dean Howells, chapter XVI, in The Rise of Silas Lapham

   A suite in Paris, immense high grave rooms, with lambrequins and a balcony.

   1920, Sinclair Lewis, Main Street: The Story of Carol Kennicott, New York, N.Y.: Harcourt, Brace and Howe, →OCLC

   Synonyms: valance

4. architectureA decorative architectural element placed along the eaves of a roof, the edges of an overhang, etc.
5. ceramicsA border pattern with draped effect.