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Webster 1913 Edition


Piazza

Pi-az′za

,
Noun.
;
pl.
Piazzas
(#)
.
[It., place, square, market place, L.
platea
street, courtyard. See
Place
.]
An open square in a European town, especially an Italian town; hence
(Arch.)
, an arcaded and roofed gallery; a portico. In the United States the word is popularly applied to a veranda.
We walk by the obelisk, and meditate in
piazzas
.
Jer. Taylor.

Webster 1828 Edition


Piazza

PIAZ'ZA

,
Noun.
[Eng. id.] In building, a portico or covered walk supported by arches or columns.

Definition 2024


piazza

piazza

English

Noun

piazza (plural piazzas or piazze)

  1. A public square, especially in an Italian city.
  2. (US dialects, chiefly New England, dated) A veranda; a porch.
    • 1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, chapter 1, in Mr. Pratt's Patients:
      Pretty soon I struck into a sort of path []. It twisted and turned, [] and opened out into a big clear space like a lawn. And, back of the lawn, was a big, old-fashioned house, with piazzas stretching in front of it, and all blazing with lights.
  3. (Britain) A roofed gallery or arcade (for example around a public square or in front of a building).

Usage notes

  • The plural piazze is used especially when the word refers to public squares in Italy, and plural piazzas when it refers to porches.
  • In some Southern dialects, the variant form pizer is used.

References

  • Thomas Durant Visser, Porches of North America (2012, ISBN 1611682207)
  1. 1 2 3 4 piazza” in Dictionary.com Unabridged, v1.0.1, Lexico Publishing Group, 2006.

Italian

Etymology

From Latin platea, from Ancient Greek πλατεῖα (plateîa).

Noun

piazza f (plural piazze)

  1. square
  2. market
  3. space, post

Synonyms

Related terms

Verb

piazza

  1. third-person singular present indicative of piazzare
  2. second-person singular imperative of piazzare

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