Pronounced: VEN-uh-ree, noun
Notes: Two definitions from two different sources
Yesterday’s word
The word girandole means
- an ornamental branched candlestick
- a pendant earring usually with three ornaments hanging from a central piece
First usage
Our word came into English in the mid-1600s
Background / Comments
Originally, our word refered to a kind of firework with a radiating pattern (or even something that has a radiating pattern like a firework). Our word came from French and Italian, which came from the Latin word gyrus (gyre; a circular or spiral motion of form). In the 1700s, our word was used to refer to the candlestick, and then (even later – in the 1800s), it began to refer to earrings.
Richard's Vocabulary Word-of-the-Day 