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pai-loo

American  
[pahy-loh] / ˈpaɪˈloʊ /

noun

plural

pai-loo, pai-loos

  1. (in Chinese architecture) a decorative or monumental gateway having a trabeated form with three compartments, the central one higher than the others.

Etymology

Origin of pai-loo

1830–40; < Chinese páilou ( paí tablet + lóu tower)

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.

The pylon of ancient Egypt had a symbolical meaning in the Book of the Dead, and religious significance attaches to the torii, one of the outward signs of the Shinto religion in Japan, the Buddhist toran, and to the Chinese pai-loo, the honorific gateways erected to ancestors.

From Project Gutenberg

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.