Word of the Day

: April 27, 2016

belvedere

noun BEL-vuh-deer

What It Means

: a structure (such as a cupola or summerhouse) designed to command a view

belvedere in Context

The couple wandered down to the belvedere at the edge of the bluff to take in the vivid colors of the sunset.

"… he chiefly talked of the view from the little belvedere on the roof of the casino, and how it looked like the prospect from a castle turret in a fairy tale." — Henry James, Roderick Hudson, 1875

Did You Know?

It is said that beauty is in the eye of the beholder—and someone with a belvedere will likely have a great deal of beauty to behold. Given the origins of the word, belvedere is the ideal term for a building (or part of a building) with a view; it derives from two Italian words, bel, which means "beautiful," and vedere, which means "view." The term has been used in English since the 1570s.