Emily Dickinson Lexicon

FRIEZE, or FRIZE, n. [freez; Sp. frisa, frieze; frisar, to raise a nap on cloth, to frizzle; Fr. friser, to curl or crisp, to shiver, to ruffle; Port. frisar; Arm. frisa. Qu. Sp. rizar, to crisp or curl, to frizzle; Gr. φρισσω, to shiver or tremble with fear, whose elements are Frg or Frk, as appears by φριξω, φρικτος, φριξ. If frieze, in architecture, is the same word, which scems to be the fact, we have evidence that the elements are Frg, for in Italian, frieze is fregio. The primary sense is probably to draw or contract.]

1. Properly, the nap on woolen cloth; hence, a kind of coarse woolen cloth or stuff, with a nap on one side.
2. In architecture, that part of the entablature of a column which is between the architrave and cornice. It is a flat member or face, usually enriched with figures of animals or other ornaments of sculpture, whence its name. Cornice or frieze with bossy sculptures graven. Milton.