Definition of "maquette" [maquette]

• A usually small model of an intended work, such as a sculpture or piece of architecture. (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.

• "This hand-painted cold-cast porcelain maquette of Owlman is based on art from the highly anticipated Warner Home Video made-for-DVD animated original movie, Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths!"
• "Maquettes, for example, are models built to help explain an architectural or sculptural commission to people who are no good at understanding arm-waving and verbal explanation: [A maquette] is used to visualize and test shapes and ideas without incurring the cost and effort of producing a full scale product."
• "In addition to Sato's original painting, used as inspiration for the 1969 mosaic, the design team had access to a 31 / 2-foot-diameter glass mosaic "maquette" - or model - of"