Parget

Part of speech: verb, noun

Definitions

1. To cover a wall or surface with a layer of plaster or roughcast ; to form raised decorative patterns in plaster on a building front
2. Applying a coat of plaster to a surface ; creating ornamental designs in plasterwork on a wall or facade
3. Spreading plaster over a wall or building face ; shaping decorative plaster motifs, often on timber-framed houses

Etymology: "Parget" is a plaster word for a decorative coating, and its root meaning is a literal act of throwing. It comes from Middle English "pargetten", borrowed from Old French "pargeter" or "parjeter", meaning "to throw about". The Old French verb is built from "par-", an intensive prefix that traces back to Latin "per-", attached to "jeter", "to throw", which in turn descends from Latin "iactare", a frequentative form of "iacere". The sense of the word today, a fine plaster or mortar applied to walls and ceilings, grew naturally from that idea of flinging material onto a surface. The noun was derived from the verb, so the thing and the action share one history. Anyone spreading plaster by hand was, in effect, throwing it at the wall, and the word followed that gesture rather than the finished surface.

Synonyms: plaster, render, stucco