parvis

American  

[pahr-vis] / ˈpɑr vɪs /

noun

1. a vacant enclosed area in front of a church.

2. a colonnade or portico in front of a church.

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parvis British  

/ ˈpɑːvɪs /

noun

1. a court or portico in front of a building, esp a church

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Etymology

Origin of parvis

1350–1400; Middle English < Middle French; Old French pare ( v ) is < Late Latin paradīsus church courtyard, originally the one before St. Peter's, Rome. See paradise

Example Sentences

In Paris, they marred the city’s famous public spaces, cluttering the Esplanade des Invalides, the Place Vendôme, the banks of the Seine, and the parvis in front of Notre Dame.

From Slate • Mar. 30, 2023

So, decentralized it is, and multi-disciplinary: a studio and an auditorium for movies, dance and other performances; a restaurant, and a large parvis as in Paris, currently planted with saplings.

From New York Times • May 12, 2010

There was a crowd in the parvis, and men, women, and children in a stream were coming and going through the narrow doors of the church.

From An Eagle Flight A Filipino Novel Adapted from Noli Me Tangere by Rizal, José

To my mind, magna componere parvis, it is my fixed belief that all created nature known to us is the issue of the mighty love of God for his first-made creature the Earth.

From Lore of Proserpine by Hewlett, Maurice Henry

Crossing the parvis of the cathedral, which I remembered, we plunged in silence into an obscure street near the river, and so narrow that the decrepit houses shut out almost all view of the sky.

From Historical Romances: Under the Red Robe, Count Hannibal, A Gentleman of France by Weyman, Stanley J.