Definition of "baldachin" []

• A rich fabric of silk and gold brocade. (noun)
• A canopy of fabric carried in church processions or placed over an altar, throne, or dais. (noun)
• Architecture A stone or marble structure built in the form of a canopy, especially over the altar of a church. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Under a baldachin is a litter, on which swings to and fro a dusky Madonna dressed after the fashion of the native goddesses, with a ring in her nose."
• "To the right (here we have already seen the statues on the left on the first picture of the altar to the right) on the baldachin St. Pantaleon (look with his hands nailed to his head) and on the volute St. Christopher."
• "Sitting to His side on the baldachin are St. Margaret to the left (see her attribute, the dragon, in German Wurm) and St. George to the right."