abat-jour

American

[ah-bah-zhoor, a-ba-zhoor] / ˌɑ bɑˈʒʊər, a baˈʒur /

noun

plural

abat-jours

a device, as a skylight or reflector, for diverting light into a building.
a sloping screen for cutting off the view between an interior or porch and a lower area in front of a building.

Etymology

Origin of abat-jour

1820–30; < French: literally, it throws down ( abat ) the daylight ( jour ). See abate, journey

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The salon into which I now entered was a large and splendidly-furnished apartment, whose light, tempered by a species of abat-jour, gave a kind of soft mysterious effect to everything about, and made even the figures, as they sat in little groups, appear something almost dramatic in their character.

From Project Gutenberg

Just in front of it, from the tall, raftered ceiling above, there hangs a small brass lamp, with a green abat-jour.

From Project Gutenberg

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023