parvis Hear it!

parvis definition

par·vis (pär′vis)

noun

  1. an enclosed court or yard in front of a building, esp. a church
  2. a portico or single line of columns in front of a church

Etymology: ME < OFr parevis < L paradisus, lit., paradise: name of the court before St. Peter's in Rome

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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