Pargeting

Part of speech: noun, verb

Definitions

1. Ornamental plasterwork applied to the outside of a building, often in patterns or raised designs ; the process of covering walls with this decorative render
2. Decorative rendering or relief plaster on the face of a wall, especially in timber-framed houses ; the craft or action of applying that plaster finish
3. Raised ornamental plaster finish on exterior walls, typically in the traditional English style ; the work of spreading and shaping such plaster on a surface

Etymology: Before it named a style of wall decoration, the root of this word simply meant to throw something over a surface. Old French "parjeter" combined "par-" (thoroughly) with "jeter" (to throw), and English took up the related verb "parget" for coating a wall with plaster. The same Latin ancestor, "jactare," gave us "jet" and "jettison," so a builder slapping on plaster and a sailor tossing cargo overboard share a distant origin. The noun was formed by adding "-ing" to that verb and names the ornamental work that a plain plaster coat could become. Plasterers in eastern England pressed patterns, figures, and motifs into the wet surface, turning a functional layer into decoration. Many examples survive on timber-framed houses there.

Synonyms: plasterwork, rendering, stucco