A frieze (from Latin: frisium)[1]​ serves in architecture to refer to the wide part of the central section of an entablature, which can be plain or (in the Ionic and Corinthian orders) decorated with bas-reliefs. In a wall without columns it is above the architrave ('main beam') and is covered by the cornice moldings.

In interior spaces, the frieze of a room is the part of the wall above the picture molding and under the ceiling molding or cornice. By extension, a frieze is a long decorative band painted, sculpted or even calligraphed in place, above eye level. Decorative friezes may depict scenes in a sequence of separate panels. The material from which the frieze is made can be plaster, carved wood or some other decorative medium.

The frieze with a convex section is called pulvino. These friezes were characteristic of 19th century Nordic mannerism, especially in interior architecture and furniture. They are also manifested in buildings from this period and somewhat later in the British Isles, especially in Palladianism.