exedra

[ ek-si-druh, ek-see- ]

noun,plural ex·e·drae [ek-si-dree, ek-see-dree]. /ˈɛk sɪˌdri, ɛkˈsi dri/.
  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.

Origin of exedra

1
1700–10; <Latin: hall furnished with seats <Greek exédra (covered) walk with seats, equivalent to ex-ex-3 + (h)édra seat, bench

Other words from exedra

  • ex·e·dral, adjective

Words Nearby exedra

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use exedra in a sentence

  • F, F, exedra in which there were seats for the philosophers to hold their conversations.

    History of Sanitation | John Joseph Cosgrove
  • Lounging on an exedra was a young woman in a woolen chiton, barefoot and trifling with the Greek ampyx that bound her golden hair.

    The City of Delight | Elizabeth Miller
  • Laodice flung her hands over her face and shrank in an agony of shame down upon the exedra.

    The City of Delight | Elizabeth Miller
  • The exedra is also adorned with many other paintings and ornaments which it would be too long to describe.

    Museum of Antiquity | L. W. Yaggy
  • The large exedra at the southern side contains on the ground-floor a vast central saloon, and two side rooms.

    Old Rome | Robert Burn

British Dictionary definitions for exedra

exedra

/ (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

Origin of exedra

1
C18: via Latin from Greek, from hedra seat

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012