cryptoporticus

American  

[krip-tuh-pawr-ti-kuhs, -pohr-] / ˌkrɪp təˈpɔr tɪ kəs, -ˈpoʊr- /

noun

plural

cryptoporticus

1. a covered passage, as one underground, lighted on one side.

2. a portico at the entrance to a crypt.

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Etymology

Origin of cryptoporticus

1675–85; < Latin: covered passage; see crypto-, portico

Example Sentences

He could even summon a classical rationale for underground living spaces: “The Romans did it. They had a thing called the cryptoporticus, so you could keep cool in the summer.”

From The New Yorker • May 23, 2015

The Roman villas had some excellent features,—the peristyle of statues, the cryptoporticus with its midnight coolness and shade of a July noon, the mosaic floor, and the glimmering frescoes of the ceiling.

From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 10, No. 60, October, 1862 by Various

The slaves' quarters, following the general plan of the house, were built around a square inner court, with a cryptoporticus, or covered gallery, at the northern and southern ends.

From Nicanor - Teller of Tales A Story of Roman Britain by Kinney, Margaret West

In 1907 excavations on the south side of the palace showed that the plan was still incomplete, and a southern cryptoporticus, and outside it a large south-west building, probably an official residence, were discovered.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 6, Slice 5 "Clervaux" to "Cockade" by Various

Delbrueck did not see that there was a real communication between the caves along the so-called cryptoporticus.

From A Study of the Topography and Municipal History of Praeneste by Magoffin, Ralph Van Deman