piazza

American  

[pee-az-uh, -ah-zuh, pee-at-suh, -aht-, pyaht-tsah] / piˈæz ə, -ˈɑ zə, piˈæt sə, -ˈɑt-, ˈpyɑt tsɑ /

noun

plural

piazzas,

plural

piazze

1. an open square or public place in a city or town, especially in Italy.

2. Chiefly New England and Inland South. a large porch on a house; veranda.

3. Chiefly British. an arcade or covered walk or gallery, as around a public square or in front of a building.

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piazza British  

/ ˈpjattsa, pɪˈætsə, -ˈædzə /

noun

1. a large open square in an Italian town

2. a covered passageway or gallery

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piazza Cultural  

1. An open square, especially in a city or town in Italy.

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Other Word Forms

• piazzaed adjective
• piazzian adjective

Etymology

Origin of piazza

1575–85; < Italian < Latin platēa courtyard, originally, street < Greek plateîa, noun use of feminine of platýs flat ¹. See place

Example Sentences

“Sitting outside in the sun on a beautiful piazza with your friends and food is hugely aspirational for the rest of the world,” Hunt said.

From The Wall Street Journal

Then there was a great heaving, and the humans were deposited on a wide piazza, surrounded on two sides by the wings of what looked to be an ancient stone library.

From Literature

The temporary ice rink was constructed in the centre of the town's piazza, leaving Pavrotti's statue knee-deep in ice and surrounded by perspex walls.

From BBC

Bari Vecchia—or “old” Bari—is a dizzying but inviting warren of white-stone alleyways and sunny piazzas that make up the historic heart of the city.

From The Wall Street Journal

A short walk away is the pretty piazza where Roberto Zanon has spent all his life but which he now has to leave.

From BBC