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

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

These eleventh-century abbatial buildings faced north and west, and are close to the present parvis, opposite the last arch of the nave.

From Mont-Saint-Michel and Chartres by Henry Adams

On the 12th of September seven preaching friars, among whom were Laurence the Englishman and a brother of St. Dominic, established themselves in a house near the parvis of Notre Dame.

From The Story of Paris by Katherine Kimball

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