pergola
Americannoun
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an arbor formed of horizontal trelliswork supported on columns or posts, over which vines or other plants are trained.
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a colonnade having the form of such an arbor.
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of pergola
1645–55; < Italian < Latin pergula projecting roof, arbor
Explanation
A pergola is a wooden structure in a garden that's made for climbing plants. For example, you might have an ivy-covered pergola in your yard. Other words for pergola are trellis or arbor. When gardeners plant climbing roses or ivy or other plants that like to wind upward around supports as they grow, they often use a pergola. The frame holds the vines and also provides a decorative arch that looks pretty in a garden or yard. The word pergola is Italian, from the Latin pergula, "projecting roof," which is most likely rooted in pergere, "to come forward."
Vocabulary lists containing pergola
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The couple originally envisioned removing their backyard pergola and lawn and adding an L-shaped ADU.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 17, 2025
I ate my pastries under a shady pergola and biked back to the hotel for a quintessential Miami afternoon: following the sun from pool to beach.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2025
The most striking piece Greene made for Pellman was a Japanese-style pergola that he used as a teahouse.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2025
Miriam said a small section of her resin bonded patio was damaged where one of her pergola feet stood.
From BBC ● Feb. 12, 2024
The kitchen was recessed into a covered alcove, and a pergola around the dining area would once have been covered with climbing vines for shade.
From "Strange the Dreamer" by Laini Taylor
The lumber harvested from them allows us to build durable homes, outdoor decks, pergolas, play sets, forts, furniture and countless other indoor and outdoor projects.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 8, 2024
A pool and hot tub behind the house are flanked by two pergolas wrapped in vines.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 25, 2022
The bunker then opens onto an expansive outdoor space decorated with American flags and bunting and landscaped with palm trees, pathways and pergolas.
From Washington Times ● Oct. 17, 2022
Removing the Venturi, Scott Brown pergolas has made Gill’s design more visible than ever.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 12, 2022
The grounds, in places, bore signs of the geometric Victorian trimness which had been their original form: drained fish-pools; the long white colonnades of skeleton pergolas; rock-bordered parterres where flowers no longer grew.
From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
