Illustration of diptych
- diptych 2
diptych
noun
dip·tych ˈdip-(ˌ)tik 
1
: a 2-leaved hinged tablet folding together to protect writing on its waxed surfaces
2
: a picture or series of pictures (such as an altarpiece) painted or carved on two hinged tablets
3
: a work made up of two matching parts
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the Web That the women are solitary — save for one whose foot stretches across a diptych to protrude slightly into another’s territory — reflects pandemic-era isolation. 
Washington Post, 22 Apr. 2022 That’s the story told by the film’s poster, which features a diptych of star Mark Wahlberg, looking rough and rueful in a mug shot and then beatific in Catholic clergy apparel. Katie Walsh, Los Angeles Times, 12 Apr. 2022 Clasen bought an Eric Vallely photo of a diver in the ocean with his fins up, cut it in two, and turned it into a diptych to hang in the living room. Christine Lennon, Sunset Magazine, 22 Feb. 2022 This desert terrain is the world of Harrow, too; the novels form a diptych of devastation. Anthony Domestico, The Atlantic, 12 Sep. 2021 The exhibition includes one such diptych issued by the Roman general Justin on becoming consul in 540. Tobias Grey, WSJ, 16 July 2021 In a diptych by Iranian American photo-collagist Sepideh Salehi, a woman hides her face with her hand while her arm turns into a distant but vividly remembered landscape. Washington Post, 15 Jan. 2021 The giant diptych places the artist’s alter ego, a cross-dressing figure called Miss Chief Eagle Testickle, at the center of unsettling riffs on European colonization narratives. Washington Post, 28 Nov. 2020 The final image was a diptych, showing Strangio reflected in the mirror of his bathroom, and a pair of gray slacks, a white shirt, and a plaid tie hanging on a door. Masha Gessen, The New Yorker, 12 Oct. 2020 See More
Washington Post, 22 Apr. 2022 That’s the story told by the film’s poster, which features a diptych of star Mark Wahlberg, looking rough and rueful in a mug shot and then beatific in Catholic clergy apparel. Katie Walsh, Los Angeles Times, 12 Apr. 2022 Clasen bought an Eric Vallely photo of a diver in the ocean with his fins up, cut it in two, and turned it into a diptych to hang in the living room. Christine Lennon, Sunset Magazine, 22 Feb. 2022 This desert terrain is the world of Harrow, too; the novels form a diptych of devastation. Anthony Domestico, The Atlantic, 12 Sep. 2021 The exhibition includes one such diptych issued by the Roman general Justin on becoming consul in 540. Tobias Grey, WSJ, 16 July 2021 In a diptych by Iranian American photo-collagist Sepideh Salehi, a woman hides her face with her hand while her arm turns into a distant but vividly remembered landscape. Washington Post, 15 Jan. 2021 The giant diptych places the artist’s alter ego, a cross-dressing figure called Miss Chief Eagle Testickle, at the center of unsettling riffs on European colonization narratives. Washington Post, 28 Nov. 2020 The final image was a diptych, showing Strangio reflected in the mirror of his bathroom, and a pair of gray slacks, a white shirt, and a plaid tie hanging on a door. Masha Gessen, The New Yorker, 12 Oct. 2020 See More Word History
Etymology
Late Latin diptycha, plural, from Greek, from neuter plural of diptychos folded in two, from di- + ptychē fold
First Known Use
1622, in the meaning defined at sense 1
diptychs
noun
as in triptychs
Synonyms & Similar Words
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- triptychs
- murals
- frescoes
- panoramas
- canvasses
- paintings
- watercolors
- canvases
- gouaches
- acrylics
- oils
- drawings
- aquarelles
- etchings
- pastels
- masterpieces
- oil paintings
- sketches
- finger paintings
- distempers
- temperas
- showpieces
- pièces de résistance