velarium

American  

[vuh-lair-ee-uhm] / vəˈlɛər i əm /

noun

Roman Antiquity.

plural

velaria

1. an awning drawn over a theater or amphitheater as a protection from rain or the sun.

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velarium British  

/ vɪˈlɛərɪəm /

noun

1. an awning used to protect the audience in ancient Roman theatres and amphitheatres

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Etymology

Origin of velarium

1825–35; < Latin vēlārium (a word known only from a passage in Juvenal; the intended sense may be “curtain” rather than “awning”); see velum, -ary

Example Sentences

In the cloth velarium used by Roman emperors to cover the Colosseum, Stone found his solution to roofing the largest free-span circular building ever erected.

From Time Magazine Archive

Where is the huge velarium that Nero stretched across the Colosseum at Rome, on which was represented the starry sky, and Apollo driving a chariot drawn by steeds?

From Oscar Wilde by Ingleby, Leonard Cresswell

A gigantic purple velarium gave shelter from the rays of the sun.

From Quo Vadis: a narrative of the time of Nero by Curtin, Jeremiah

The censers were ignited again, and the velarium was removed, for the sun had sunk now considerably.

From Quo Vadis: a narrative of the time of Nero by Curtin, Jeremiah

Where the huge velarium that Nero had stretched across the Colosseum at Rome, that Titan sail of purple on which was represented the starry sky, and Apollo driving a chariot drawn by white, gilt-reined steeds?

From The Picture of Dorian Gray by Wilde, Oscar