caisson

box, crate

noun keh-SOHN Rare

Origin: from French caisse (box)

Also means

caisson (engineering/architecture)

Usage Note

Caisson has several technical senses: a watertight chamber used in underwater construction, a sunken panel in a decorative ceiling (plafond à caissons), or a large ammunition chest. The medical term 'caisson disease' — the bends — is maladie des caissons in French. The everyday sense of 'big box' is less common than the technical uses.

Examples

"Les caissons du plafond sont dorés."

Natural Translation

The ceiling coffers are gilded.

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