Emily Dickinson Lexicon

FES-TOON', n. [Fr. feston; Sp. id.; It. festone; probably a tie, from the root of fast, W. fest.]

Something in imitation of a garland or wreath. In architecture and sculpture, an ornament of carved work in the form of a wreath of flowers, fruits and leaves intermixed or twisted together. It is in the form of a string or collar, somewhat largest in the middle, where it falls down in an arch, being suspended by the ends, the extremities of which hang down perpendicularly. Harris. Encyc.