bas relief

bas relief

See also: basrelief and bas-relief

English

Alternative forms

• bas-relief
• bass-relief (archaic)

Etymology

From French bas relief, from Italian bassorilievo, compound of basso (“low”) + rilievo (“relief”), from Latin relevare (“to raise up, make light”).

Noun

bas relief (countable and uncountable, plural bas reliefs)

1. (sculpture) A low or mostly-flat sculpture which is carved into a wall, or is in the form of a tile mounted flat to a wall, rather than a fully three-dimensional, free-standing figure.

Synonyms

• basso-rilievo, basso-relievo
• cameo (jewelry)
• low relief

Antonyms

Detail from the Elgin Marbles in high relief

• alto-relievo, high relief

Translations

a low or mostly-flat sculpture

Armenian: հարթաքանդակ (hy) (hartʿakʿandak) Belarusian: барэлье́ф m (barelʹjéf) Catalan: baix relleu m Crimean Tatar: barelyef Finnish: reliefi (fi) Galician: baixo-relevo m

Greek: χαμηλό ανάγλυφο n (chamiló anáglyfo) Japanese: 浅浮き彫り (あさうきぼり, asa ukibori) Portuguese: baixo-relevo (pt) m Russian: барелье́ф (ru) m (barelʹjéf) Spanish: bajorrelieve m Ukrainian: барельє́ф (uk) m (barelʹjéf)

Adjective

bas relief (not comparable)

1. Refers to any aspect of sculpture which is flat or in the bas relief style.

Further reading

• bas relief on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

• bas relief on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons

Anagrams

• balefires

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French

Etymology

Calque of Italian bassorilievo

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bɑ ʁə.ljɛf/

Noun

bas relief m (plural bas reliefs)

1. bas relief