baldaquin Definition

baldacchino
baldachin
baldaquin
noun baldacchinos

1. A canopy, especially one supported at each corner by a pole and carried over a sacred object in a religious procession, or placed over a throne, altar or pulpit.
2. archit.
Especially over the high altar in a Baroque church: a fixed structure with a canopy supported at each corner by a column.

Etymology: 16c as baldakin, meaning ‘a rich brocade': from Italian baldacchino, from Baldacco Baghdad, where the silk used for such canopies originally came from.