valance

• valaunce (obsolete)

Origin uncertain. Probably from Anglo-Norman valaunce, valence, from valer (“go down, let down”), aphetic form of Old French avaler (“to descend, go down”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈvæləns/
• Rhymes: -æləns

valance (plural valances)

1. A short curtain that usually hangs along the top edge of a window.
   • 1969, David G. Irwin, The Visual Arts, Taste and Criticism (page 27)

     Even the mantelpiece is adorned with a totally unfunctional tasselled valance rather like an altar frontal.

2. A decorative framework used to conceal the curtain mechanism and so on at the top of a window.
3. (bedding) A short, decorative edging of cloth that hangs from the mattress to the floor.
4. The drooping edging of the lid of a trunk, which covers the joint when the lid is closed.

• (bedding): dust ruffle, bedskirt