tesserae

n. mosaic tile; small tablet of wood or bone that was used as a token or ticket in ancient Greece and Rome

Abaciscus redirects here. For the moth genus, see Abaciscus (moth).Tessella redirects here. For the moth genus, see Tessella (moth).1. A tessera (plural: tesserae, diminutive tessella) is an individual tile in a mosaic, usually formed in the shape of a cube. Also known as an abaciscus, abaculus, or, in Persian کاشي معرق.In antiquity, mosaics were formed from naturally colored pebbles, but by 200 BCE purpose-made tesserae were being used. Marble or limestone was cut into small cubes that were arranged into the design. Later, tesserae were made from colored glass, or clear glass backed with metal foils. The Byzantines used tesserae with gold leaf, in which case the glass pieces were flatter, with two glass pieces sandwiching the gold. This produced a golden reflection emanating from in between the tesserae, causing a richer and more luminous effect.
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Noun
1. a small square tile of stone or glass used in making mosaics
(hypernym) tile
(hyponym) tessella
(part-holonym) mosaic
(derivation) tessellate

(pl. )
of Tessera
  

N F
die; square tablet marked with watchword| countersign; token| ticket