Often anti-. [L., f. ante before + pend-ĕre to hang: ‘velum quod antependet.’ Du Cange.] A veil or covering for the front of the altar, used in Roman Catholic and some Anglican churches; sometimes identified with a FRONTAL, which may be an ornamental panel.
1696. Phillips, Antipendium, a large silver-skreen that covers the front of a Popish Altar … hung on with skrews upon a high day.
1716. T. Ward, Eng. Ref., 51. On Beds they Antipendiums laid, Of Sacred Vestments Cushions made.
1849. Rock, Ch. of Fathers, I. iii. 236. The modern term for the frontal is ‘antependium.’
1864. Ainsworth, Tower Lond., 158. The altar, covered with a richly-ornamented antipendium.
