velarium

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   historical: a large retractable fabric awning spread over a Roman amphitheatre or theatre to shade spectators

   Sailors managed the ropes that extended the velarium above the Colosseum.

2. 2
   noun

   a large cloth canopy or decorative fabric ceiling stretched across an interior or open space

   A painted velarium hung beneath the hall's iron roof.

3. 3
   noun

   zoology: the shelf-like membrane around the inner edge of the bell in certain jellyfish

   The medusa contracts its velarium as it propels water from the bell.

Borrowed from Latin velarium, 'awning or curtain,' from velum, 'sail, covering, or veil.' Roman usage named the vast shade canopy above an amphitheatre; architecture and zoology later extended the word to other stretched or marginal membranes.

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