penthouse
- an apartment or dwelling on the roof of a building, usually set back from the outer walls.
- any specially designed apartment on an upper floor, especially the top floor, of a building.
- a structure on a roof for housing elevator machinery, a water tank, etc.
- Also called pent, pen·tice [pen-tis] /ˈpɛn tɪs/. a shed with a sloping roof, or a sloping roof, projecting from a wall or the side of a building, as to shelter a door.
- any rooflike shelter or overhanging part.
- shed roof.
- Court Tennis. a corridor having a slanted roof and projecting from three walls of the court.
Origin of penthouse
Examples from the Web for penthouse
Contemporary Examples
Then I was the December Penthouse Pet, which is a huge honor.
He's starting to sound like a schoolboy with a copy of Penthouse.
Loeb owns a $100 million penthouse on Central Park West and a $50 million yacht.
I was literally on the 18th floor in a penthouse suite and I really thought about ending it.
Exclusive: Michael Phelps’s Intersex Self-Proclaimed Girlfriend, Taylor Lianne Chandler, Tells AllAurora Snow
November 26, 2014
Either way, this is a conversation that is occurring not just at the penthouse level, but among the grassroots as well.
Rand Paul, Chris Christie Laid Out Plans for Black Voters at Penthouse ForumDavid Freedlander
October 17, 2014
Historical Examples
It is the diminutive of pluteus, a shed or penthouse, from its conical cap.
The Mushroom, Edible and OtherwiseM. E. Hard
The car whisked them up to the penthouse which topped it, and they landed on the terrace.
Medal of HonorDallas McCord Reynolds
Nicholas was watching him from under the penthouse of his eyebrows.
Antony Gray,--GardenerLeslie Moore
This formed a species of penthouse, which they placed in the moat.
The UsurperJudith Gautier
The arrows aimed at them rebounded from the roof of the penthouse.
The UsurperJudith Gautier
penthouse
- a flat or maisonette built onto the top floor or roof of a block of flats
- a construction on the roof of a building, esp one used to house machinery
- a shed built against a building, esp one that has a sloping roof
- real tennis the roofed corridor that runs along three sides of the court
Word Origin
Word Origin and History for penthouse
n.
pendize, early 14c., from Anglo-French pentiz, a shortening of Old French apentis "attached building, appendage," from Medieval Latin appendicium, from Latin appendere "to hang" (see append). Modern spelling is from c.1530, by folk etymology influence of Middle French pente "slope," and English house (the meaning at that time was "attached building with a sloping roof or awning"). Originally a simple structure (Middle English homilies describe Jesus' birthplace in the manger as a "penthouse"); meaning "apartment or small house built on the roof of a skyscraper" first recorded 1921, from which time dates its association with luxury.