staffage

English

Etymology

Borrowed from German Staffage. By surface analysis, staff +‎ -age.

Noun

staffage (usually uncountable, plural staffages)

  1. (painting) The people and animals represented in a landscape painting.
    • 1923, Bernard Granville Baker, From a Terrace in Prague‎[1]:
      Some tourists aggravate their position by hiring a guide. Every city of any historic importance breeds a class of mortals that are born guides; they have come to belong to the "staffage" of picturesque surroundings; and in this respect Prague is happily yet unspoilt.
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