veranda

noun

ve·​ran·​da və-ˈran-də How to pronounce veranda (audio)
variants or verandah
: a usually roofed open gallery or portico attached to the exterior of a building

Examples of veranda in a Sentence

whiling away the afternoon from the inn's wide veranda
Recent Examples on the Web The custom home at 1600 S.W. Spring St. in Portland’s Southwest Hills has an extensive veranda granting city and mountain views, and is surrounded by perennial gardens. Jeastman, oregonlive, 12 Sep. 2023 In addition, travelers who book the sale from Aug. 3 through Aug. 8 will also receive an onboard credit of $100 for inside or ocean view staterooms or a credit of $200 for veranda staterooms and above. Alison Fox, Travel + Leisure, 28 July 2023 The Club at Mustang Lakes offers resort-style pools, extensive outdoor verandas and courtyards, interior lounges and party areas, a kitchen and a 2,500-square-foot fitness facility with cardio equipment, weights and a fitness studio. Mustang Lakes, Dallas News, 18 June 2023 The wedding ceremony took place on the veranda of the Hermitage Hotel in front of 80 guests. Jordan Greene, Peoplemag, 24 Oct. 2023 The Salon at Heitz Cellar Located at the original St. Helena property that Joe and Alice Heitz purchased in 1961, the salon consists of a grand tasting room, a private tasting room, the Quartz Creek garden, a veranda, and a chef’s larder designed by renowned architect Peter Fleming. Hugh Garvey, Sunset Magazine, 5 Sep. 2023 The first order of business was reducing the room count in favor of adding more space to each of the suites—each of which has ocean views, and many of which come with private verandas. Sarah Khan, Robb Report, 23 Oct. 2023 Each one offers an average of about 580 square feet of space and comes with its own private veranda, measuring at least 100 square feet. Jessica Puckett, Condé Nast Traveler, 2 Oct. 2023 An in-law suite on this floor has its own kitchen and sitting area; and outdoors, the grounds come complete with a covered veranda overlooking a vanishing-edge pool and spa, sport court and an in-ground trampoline. Wendy Bowman, Robb Report, 17 Oct. 2023 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'veranda.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

borrowed perhaps via an Indo-Portuguese creole from Portuguese varanda, akin to Spanish baranda "railing" (earlier, "balcony, floor of a building"), Catalan barana "railing," Old Occitan baranda "barrier, barricade," all going back to *varanda "enclosing barrier, the area enclosed," of obscure origin; reinforced by Hindi & Urdu baraṇḍā "roofed gallery," Marathi varãḍ, varãḍā "parapet," in part borrowed from Portuguese varanda and English veranda, in part going back to Sanskrit varaṇḍaka- "mound of earth, rampart separating two fighting elephants," varaṇḍa- "partition wall"

Note: An Anglo-Indian word, most of the early evidence for which is cited in Yule and Burnell's Hobson-Jobson (2nd edition 1903) and the Oxford English Dictionary. The superficial similarity in form and meaning of the Romance and Indo-Aryan words is striking enough that the Romance scholar Joan Coromines attempted to connect them, positing an Indo-European substratal noun as the source of both, to which he added Lithuanian (Žemaitian dialect) varanda "loop plaited from flexible twigs" (Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico). It is questionable, however, if the original meanings of the three etyma are really closely comparable, so that the phonetic likeness may simply be coincidence. The Romance word has been connected with Spanish and Portuguese vara "rod, pole" and other progeny of Latin vāra "forked pole," but, as Coromines points out, the deverbal suffix -anda would require the existence of an otherwise unknown verb *varar; other Romance forms descended from a variant *varandia/varania (see Coromines) make such a hypothesis even less likely.

First Known Use

1711, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of veranda was in 1711

Dictionary Entries Near veranda

Cite this Entry

“Veranda.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/veranda. Accessed 3 Dec. 2023.

Kids Definition

veranda

noun
ve·​ran·​da
variants or verandah
: a long open porch usually with a roof

More from Merriam-Webster on veranda

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