vitrine

vitrine — noun

1. a glass case used to protect and show valuable, decorative, or special objects i

1.noun
Definition

a glass case used to protect and show valuable, decorative, or special objects in places such as museums, shops, or homes.

Example

The museum placed the bronze necklace in a vitrine near the entrance.

pattern: place [object] in a vitrine

Christopher cleaned the shop vitrine before arranging the silver watches.

collocation: shop vitrine

Common collocations
  • museum vitrine
  • locked vitrine
  • glass vitrine
  • place [object] in a vitrine
Synonyms
  • display case

    the most general everyday term

  • showcase

    common in shops and public displays

  • cabinet

    broader word; not every cabinet has glass sides for display

Grammar Patterns

place [object] in a vitrine

a vitrine filled with [items]

a museum vitrine

Usage Note

Usually used for a glass case that both protects objects and lets people look at them. It is more common in museum, gallery, antique, or design contexts than in everyday home talk, where many speakers simply say display case.

Common Mistakes

The store put the rings on the vitrine.
The store put the rings in the vitrine.
a vitrine is a glass container, so the objects are normally inside it.

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

These words all describe furniture or cases used to hold things, but they differ in emphasis. A 'vitrine' is specifically a glass display case, often used for objects that are valuable, fragile, or meant to be looked at carefully, especially in museums and galleries. 'Display case' is the broad everyday term and works in most situations. 'Showcase' often suggests a public or commercial display, such as in a shop window or exhibition area. 'Cabinet' is much wider in meaning: it may store items, but it does not always have glass or a display purpose. In use, a museum may place coins in a vitrine, while a bakery may arrange cakes in a display case.

vitrine ↗display case ↗showcase ↗cabinet ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

  • museum vitrine
  • glass vitrine
  • shop vitrine

Phrases

  • place [object] in a vitrine
  • open the vitrine

Prepositions

  • in a vitrine

Etymology

LatinFrenchEnglish

English borrowed 'vitrine' from French in the 19th century. The French word means a glass display case and comes from 'vitre', meaning a pane of glass, which goes back to Latin 'vitrum', 'glass'. The modern English meaning keeps that focus on glass used for showing and protecting objects.

First known use

1880

1880, in the meaning defined above