noun
dado
DAY-doh
Dado (noun) means the lower part of an interior wall when it is decorated or finished differently from the wall above. Example: “The hallway had a dark wood dado below a pale, plastered upper wall.”
noun
1
The lower part of an interior wall when it is decorated or finished differently from the wall above.
"Hangings of tapestry were behind the high seats, worked with flowers, snake’s-head, snapdragon, dragon-mouth, and their kind; and on the dado below the windows were sculptures of birds and beasts and creeping things."
— Eric Rücker Eddison, The Worm Ouroboros: A Romance (1922)
"The hallway had a dark wood dado below a pale, plastered upper wall."
"Like a dado round the room was the jutting line of splendid heavy game-heads, the best of their sort from every quarter of the world, with the rare white rhinoceros of the Lado Enclave drooping its supercilious lip above them all."
— Arthur Conan Doyle, The Lost World … (1912)
2
A rectangular groove cut across a piece of wood to hold another piece in a joint.
"The carpenter cut a dado into the shelf side to hold the back panel."
How to use dado
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishEither a decorative lower section of a wall, or (in carpentry) a slot cut into wood to join pieces together.
Common pairings
dado rail
cut a dado
Vocabulary Flow
Build your vocabulary from words like dado.
Vocabulary Flow serves the next word, and the next — meaning, pronunciation and an example each time. Practice at your level, or learn English in your own language.
Start vocabulary practice
Word forms
- Plural
- dados, dadoes
- Third person singular
- dadoes
- Past tense
- dadoed
Fill the gap
Can you complete this real example?
The hallway had a dark wood _____ below a pale, plastered upper wall.
Etymology
From Italian dado, first recorded in English in the 1660s.
Class of 1660
dado joined the language around 1660.
See the full Class of 1660 →
Synonyms
View more →Related words
Rhymes for dado
See all rhymes for dado →Frequently asked questions
What does “dado” mean?
The word “dado” means the lower part of an interior wall when it is decorated or finished differently from the wall above. In plain terms, either a decorative lower section of a wall, or (in carpentry) a slot cut into wood to join pieces together.
How do you pronounce “dado”?
“Dado” is pronounced DAY-doh (/ˈdeɪdoʊ/ in IPA).
How do you use “dado” in a sentence?
Here is “dado” used in a sentence: “The hallway had a dark wood dado below a pale, plastered upper wall.”
What part of speech is “dado”?
“Dado” is a noun.
Where does the word “dado” come from?
The word “dado” dates back to around 1660 and comes from Italian. From Italian dado, first recorded in English in the 1660s.
How many meanings does “dado” have?
“Dado” has 2 distinct senses listed in this dictionary. The most common is: the lower part of an interior wall when it is decorated or finished differently from the wall above.
Featured in
Vocabulary lists that include dado:
