pai-loo

[pahy-loh]

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.

Word History and Origins

Origin of pai-loo¹

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

Example Sentences

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.

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