exedra

American  

[ek-si-druh, ek-see-] / ˈɛk sɪ drə, ɛkˈsi- /

noun

plural

exedrae

1. (in ancient Greece and Rome) a room or covered area open on one side, used as a meeting place.

2. a permanent outdoor bench, semicircular in plan and having a high back.

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exedra British  

/ ˈɛksɪdrə, ɛkˈsiː- /

noun

1. a building, room, portico, or apse containing a continuous bench, used in ancient Greece and Rome for holding discussions

2. an outdoor bench in a recess

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Other Word Forms

• exedral adjective

Etymology

Origin of exedra

1700–10; < Latin: hall furnished with seats < Greek exédra (covered) walk with seats, equivalent to ex- ex- ³ + ( h ) édra seat, bench

Example Sentences

The exedra — a Greek term for what became a popular garden feature in the 18th century — has a statue of Eros at its center in commemoration of the Seilheimers’ 40th wedding anniversary.

From Washington Post • Sep. 24, 2020

A collaboration by Augustus Saint-Gaudens on an exedra designed by architect Stanford White, the statue, cast in 1880, stands above reliefs of two female figures representing Loyalty and Courage.

From New York Times • Sep. 23, 2018

It consists of an exedra and pedestal surmounted by a figure of Peace . . . backed by an illuminated cross.

From Time Magazine Archive

Laodice flung her hands over her face and shrank in an agony of shame down upon the exedra.

From The City of Delight A Love Drama of the Siege and Fall of Jerusalem by Leyendecker, Frank X.

Alma-Tadema has fixed the current tradition in his ideal representation of Sappho's school at Lesbos--a marble exedra on the seashore at Mytilene.

From Greek Women by Carroll, Mitchell