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

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

parvis

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

Over the porch is a parvis, as a priest’s chamber, or school. 

From Records of Woodhall Spa and Neighbourhood Historical, Anecdotal, Physiographical, and Archaeological, with Other Matter by James Conway Walter

In a twinkling, the narrow precincts of the church parvis were cleared.

From Notre-Dame De Paris by Isabel Florence Hapgood

We followed the fluttering robes; we passed out once more into the sunlit parvis.

From In and out of Three Normady Inns by Anna Bowman Dodd

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