parvis

noun

par·​vis ˈpär-vəs 

variants or less commonly parvise

1

: a court or enclosed space before a building (such as a church)

2

: a single portico or colonnade before a church

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web

The western façade, giving onto the parvis, the open area before the cathedral, was not completed until around 1240, and the upper gallery of the nave and the two towers on the west façade were finished between 1225 and 1250. —Klara Glowczewska, Town & Country, 19 Apr. 2019

Word History

Etymology

Middle English parvis, from Anglo-French, modification of Late Latin paradisus enclosed park — more at paradise

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1