patio
Americannoun
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an area, usually paved, adjoining a house and used as an area for outdoor lounging, dining, etc.
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a courtyard, especially of a house, enclosed by low buildings or walls.
noun
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an open inner courtyard, esp one in a Spanish or Spanish-American house
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an area adjoining a house, esp one that is paved and used for outdoor activities
Etymology
Origin of patio
1820–30, < Spanish, Old Spanish: courtyard, perhaps originally open area; compare Medieval Latin patium meadow, pasturage, perhaps derivative of Latin *patitus, past participle of patēre to lie open. See patent
Explanation
A patio is a space for sitting outside that's usually paved. Your neighbors' patio might be paved with bricks and decorated with flowers in pots. Some patios are paved with stone or concrete slabs that together form a sort of outdoor floor. You can also call this area a terrace, verandah, or courtyard. A patio is usually located beside or behind a house or apartment building, although some public buildings also have patios — a restaurant might have a patio for outdoor seating, for example. Patio means "court open to the sky" in Spanish, from the Old Provençal pati, "communal pasture."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Those businesses included restaurants that were local institutions, such as Moonshadows, the Reel Inn and Rosenthal Wine Bar & Patio.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 18, 2026
About 40 people protested against asylum seekers outside the former Patio Hotel on 9 August, with about 200 anti-racism protesters attending.
From BBC • Aug. 18, 2025
By early afternoon, a small group of protesters had gathered in an area known as the Kerckhoff Patio and barricaded it with umbrellas, tables and slabs of wood.
From New York Times • May 23, 2024
Crafted in Lancashire, England, where the company, Hartley Botanic, has been manufacturing glasshouses since 1938, the Patio is available in 15 colors. $4,400 at hartley-botanic.com.
From Seattle Times • Nov. 20, 2023
There are nine doors to the Cathedral proper, and a gateway with doors, leading to the Patio de los Naranjas, or Court of the Oranges.
From The Story of Seville by Hartley, C. Gasquoine (Catherine Gasquoine)
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
