{A piece of bric-a-brac}, any curious or antique article of virtu, as a piece of antiquated furniture or metal work, or an odd knickknack. [1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.
Bric-a brac — n. [F.] Miscellaneous curiosities and works of decorative art, considered collectively. [1913 Webster] {A piece of bric a brac}, any curious or antique article of virtu, as a piece of antiquated furniture or metal work, or an odd knickknack. [19 … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
bric-a-brac — [19] Bric a brac first appears in English in William Thackeray’s The adventures of Philip 1862: ‘all the valuables of the house, including, perhaps, JJ’s bricabrac, cabinets, china, and so forth’. It comes from the obsolete French phrase à bric… … The Hutchinson dictionary of word origins
bric-a-brac — [19] Bric a brac first appears in English in William Thackeray’s The adventures of Philip 1862: ‘all the valuables of the house, including, perhaps, JJ’s bricabrac, cabinets, china, and so forth’. It comes from the obsolete French phrase à bric… … Word origins
bric-a-brac — Synonyms and related words: art object, bauble, bibelot, brainchild, chaff, chicken feed, chickenshit, classic, composition, creation, design, details, fribble, froth, gaud, gewgaw, gimcrack, gimcrackery, grotesque, kickshaw, kitsch, knack,… … Moby Thesaurus
piece — Synonyms and related words: Grand Guignol, Nachtmusik, Passion play, Tom show, absolute music, actor, adaptation, aesthetic distance, air, air varie, aleatory, aleatory music, alike, allotment, allowance, antagonist, antihero, antimasque,… … Moby Thesaurus
museum piece — Synonyms and related words: abnormality, anomaly, art object, brainchild, bric a brac, classic, composition, conversation piece, creation, curio, curiosity, design, exception, grotesque, improbability, kitsch, master, masterpiece, masterwork,… … Moby Thesaurus
mathom — noun a) A trinket or piece of bric a brac. b) A precious item saved and used in regifting, from Lord of the Rings: Anything that Hobbits had no immediate use for, but were unwilling to throw away, they called a mathom. Their dwellings were apt to … Wiktionary
curio — (n.) piece of bric a brac from the Far East, 1851, shortened form of CURIOSITY (Cf. curiosity) (n.) … Etymology dictionary
List of French words and phrases used by English speakers — Here are some examples of French words and phrases used by English speakers. English contains many words of French origin, such as art, collage, competition, force, machine, police, publicity, role, routine, table, and many other Anglicized… … Wikipedia
knickknack — I (New American Roget s College Thesaurus) n. bric a brac, trifle, trinket, gewgaw. See ornament, unimportance. II (Roget s IV) n. Syn. ornament, curio, gewgaw, gimcrack, objet d art (French), conversation piece, bric a brac, curiosity, bibelot,… … English dictionary for students
