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The history of "vitrine" is clear as glass. It comes to English by way of the Old French word vitre, meaning "pane of glass," from Latin vitrum, meaning "glass." "Vitrum" has contributed a number of words to the English language besides "vitrine." "Vitreous" ("resembling glass" or "relating to, derived from, or consisting of glass") is the most common of these. "Vitrify" ("to convert or become converted into glass or into a glassy substance by heat and fusion") is another. A much rarer "vitrum" word - and one that also entered English by way of "vitre" - is vitrailed, meaning "fitted with stained glass."
Examples of vitrine in a Sentence
Thomas Waller, WWD, 3 Sep. 2024
The exhibition’s organizers, Mami Kataoka and Hirokazu Tokuyama, had wanted to show a selection of these works in vitrines, Gates said.
—Siddhartha Mitter, New York Times, 17 Oct. 2024
Later on, there is a Jeff Koons balloon dog as well as one of his sculptures featuring basketballs floating in a vitrine.
—Sarah Douglas, ARTnews.com, 16 Oct. 2024
Elsewhere in her home were a table filled with a variety of Robert Graham’s female nude sculptures, a box by Larry Bell, a vitrine with several ceramic works by Ken Price, and pieces by Joe Goode, Frank Gehry, Richard Bernstein, Sam Francis, and Yolanda González, among others.
—Maximilíano Durón, ARTnews.com, 10 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for vitrine 
Dictionary Entries Near vitrine
Cite this Entry
“Vitrine.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/vitrine. Accessed 22 Nov. 2024.
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