parvis

American  

[pahr-vis] / ˈpɑr vɪs /

noun

1. a vacant enclosed area in front of a church.

2. a colonnade or portico in front of a church.

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parvis British  

/ ˈpɑːvɪs /

noun

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

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Etymology

Origin of parvis

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

Example Sentences

In Paris, they marred the city’s famous public spaces, cluttering the Esplanade des Invalides, the Place Vendôme, the banks of the Seine, and the parvis in front of Notre Dame.

From Slate • Mar. 30, 2023

So, decentralized it is, and multi-disciplinary: a studio and an auditorium for movies, dance and other performances; a restaurant, and a large parvis as in Paris, currently planted with saplings.

From New York Times • May 12, 2010

The next Orders were for re-casting all the damag'd brass Cannon which the Enemy had left; upon every one of which was, by order, a Sun eclyps'd, with this Motto under it: Magna parvis obscurantur.

From Military Memoirs of Capt. George Carleton by Defoe, Daniel

It will be expressly ordered to burn incense in the parvis of a temple where beasts are slaughtered in the Deity's honour, and for the priests' supper.

From Voltaire's Philosophical Dictionary by Voltaire

Si parvis componere magna recibit, we may admit that the rise of Nash and that of Napoleon were owing to similar causes.

From The Wits and Beaux of Society Volume 1 by Wharton, Grace