veranda
Americannoun
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verandas
plural
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Chiefly South Midland and Southern U.S. Also verandah. a large, open porch, usually roofed and partly enclosed, as by a railing, often extending across the front and sides of a house; gallery.
noun
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a porch or portico, sometimes partly enclosed, along the outside of a building
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a canopy sheltering pedestrians in a shopping street
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of veranda
1705–15; < Hindi baraṇḍā, barāmdā < Persian bar āmadaḥ coming out (unless the Hindi word is < Portuguese varanda, Spanish baranda railing, balustrade; cf. bar 1)
Compare meaning
How does veranda compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
If you're lazing around on a long, airy porch that runs along the outside of your house, you are on a veranda. The word veranda likely derived from the Portuguese word varanda, meaning "long balcony or terrace." Extending along the outside of a building, this architectural structure has a roof and usually opens up to the outside. A veranda is a common feature on houses at a beach resort or in other warm climates. They provide shade but still allow you to sit outside and enjoy the scenery. You might have a party on your veranda in the summer.
Vocabulary lists containing veranda
I Am Malala
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"Rikki-Tikki-Tavi" by Rudyard Kipling
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Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
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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.
See Examples For:
The men sit on rugs beneath the wide boughs of a tree, while two women sit on mats in the shade of a nearby veranda, as goats and chickens roam the compound.
From BBC ● Oct. 22, 2025
Outside, residents can enjoy the warm New Orleans weather while lounging on the covered veranda or soaking in the saltwater pool.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 10, 2025
Here, you’ll come across the ruins of the White Point Hot Springs Hotel, where guests once lounged in hot sulfur spring-fed swimming pools and shimmied the Charleston on the veranda.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2024
The front of the building was remodeled, and its faux stonework, veranda and locked wooden shutters over nonexistent windows resembles a villa.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 13, 2023
These were clothes for sauntering along the veranda at Mackinac or perhaps going on a jeep safari, but patently not for hiking.
From "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson
Today, it also runs a restaurant and hotel with six guest rooms in the main house and five modern cabins with floor-to-ceiling windows opening to private verandas.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 16, 2026
It’s wrapped in verandas and shaded by a gnarly 300-year-old pine tree.
From New York Times ● Sep. 25, 2022
The colonial-era structure was a staggering sight, with airy verandas, plush living rooms and spacious bedrooms, a garden swimming pool and neatly manicured lawns.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 11, 2022
It is an imposing piece of colonial-type architecture that contains several verandas, meeting rooms and living areas, a swimming pool and a huge lawn.
From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2022
The pace was slow and there were rambling houses with columned verandas.
From "Dreaming in Cuban" by Cristina García
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
