velarium

American  

[vuh-lair-ee-uhm] / vəˈlɛər i əm /

noun

Roman Antiquity.

• velaria
  plural

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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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• velaria
  plural

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

See Examples For:

velarium velaria

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

Upon the wall of the people's gallery is still seen the ring that held the pole of the velarium.

From The Wonders of Pompeii by Monnier, Marc

All stared upward, but saw nothing, for the canopy was still in the shadow of the velarium which covered all the outer edge of the cavea, leaving the centre open to the sky.

From Pearl-Maiden by Haggard, Henry Rider

Velum, vē′lum, n. a velarium: the ciliated disc-like fold of the integument with which some embryo molluscs are provided:—pl.

From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 4 of 4: S-Z and supplements) by Various

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

Indeed the Carthaginian captives could distinguish the velaria spread over the courtyards of their houses, beyond the gulf on the slopes of Byrsa.

From Salammbo by Flaubert, Gustave

Moreover, there is no reason but the existing filth why the roadways should not have translucent velaria to pull over in bright sunshine and wet weather.

From Anticipations Of the Reaction of Mechanical and Scientific Progress upon Human life and Thought by Wells, H. G. (Herbert George)

Wool, however, was the most common material, and the velaria made in Apulia were most esteemed, on account of the whiteness of the wool.

From Museum of Antiquity A Description of Ancient Life by Haines, T. L. (Thomas Louis)

The cry, swelled by every Latin tongue, shook the velaria over the consul's head.

From Ben-Hur; a tale of the Christ by Wallace, Lewis