mezzanine

[mez-uh-neen, mez-uh-neen]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR mezzanine ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

the lowest balcony or forward part of such a balcony in a theater.

a low story between two other stories of greater height in a building, especially when the low story and the one beneath it form part of one composition; an entresol.

Origin of mezzanine

1705–15; < French < Italian mezzanino, equivalent to mezzan(o) middle (< Latin mediānus median) + -ino diminutive suffix

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for mezzanine

balcony, entresol

Examples from the Web for mezzanine

Contemporary Examples of mezzanine

Orchestra seats cost $100; mezzanine is $75; and balcony, $50.
Here’s the Program for Women in the World Texas!
October 2, 2014
There is a grand wooden staircase that leads to a mezzanine with seating.
The Secret Speakeasies of Buenos Aires
Jeff Campagna
February 25, 2014

Historical Examples of mezzanine

I listened attentively and it seemed to me they were sitting in the mezzanine.
The House with the Mezzanine and Other Stories
Anton Tchekoff
He mounted to the mezzanine floor, tried the door, and found it locked.
The Woman Gives
Owen Johnson
There, on a sort of mezzanine, he had a gorgeous little suite.
The Deluge
David Graham Phillips
He found it on the mezzanine, suitably lavish, clean and well-furnished.
Forsyte's Retreat
Winston Marks
By and by, when she's foot-loose, she wants to see you in the mezzanine.
The Real Man
Francis Lynde

British Dictionary definitions for mezzanine

mezzanine

noun

Also called: mezzanine floor, entresol an intermediate storey, esp a low one between the ground and first floor of a building

theatre, US and Canadian the first balcony

theatre, British a room or floor beneath the stage

adjective

of or relating to an intermediate stage in a financial processmezzanine funding Often shortened to: mezz

Word Origin for mezzanine

C18: from French, from Italian, diminutive of mezzano middle, from Latin mediānus median

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for mezzanine

1711, "a low story between two tall ones in a building," from French mezzanine (17c.), from Italian mezzanino, from mezzano "middle," from Latin medianus "of the middle," from medius (see medial (adj.)). Sense of "lowest balcony in a theater" first recorded 1927.