parvis

[ pahr-vis ]

noun

1. a vacant enclosed area in front of a church.
2. a colonnade or portico in front of a church.

parvis

/ ˈpɑːvɪs /

noun

1. a court or portico in front of a building, esp a church

Word History and Origins

Origin of parvis¹

1350–1400; Middle English < Middle French; Old French pare ( v ) is < Late Latin paradīsus church courtyard, originally the one before St. Peter's, Rome. See paradise

Word History and Origins

Origin of parvis¹

C14: via Old French from Late Latin paradīsus paradise

Example Sentences

As one of the Latin-spouting broderers tells Violet as she is finishing off her first embroidered contribution to the Cathedral: “It may be the only mark we make. Sic parvis magna … From small things, greatness.”

From Washington Times

They were replaced by a wide-open space - known as the "parvis" - creating a sense of distance and grandeur.

From BBC

Crossing the parvis of the cathedral, which I remembered, we plunged in silence into an obscure street near the river, and so narrow that the decrepit houses shut out almost all view of the sky.

From Project Gutenberg

Sapphire; but the admiral defended the conduct of his officer by saying that he had merely acted, "magna componere parvis," as an English blockading squadron would have done in a similar case.

From Project Gutenberg

In a few instances there are two parvises, one over the north and one over the south porch, as at Wellingborough.

From Project Gutenberg