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n. 1. Delicate and intricate ornamental work made from gold, silver, or other fine twisted wire. 2. a. An intricate, delicate, or fanciful ornamentation. b. A design resembling such ornamentation: filigrees of frosting on a cake. tr.v. fil·i·greed, fil·i·gree·ing, fil·i·grees To decorate with or as if with filigree. [Alteration of French filigrane, from Italian filigrana : Latin fīlum, thread; see gwhī- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots + Latin grānum, grain; see gə-no- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.] |
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