gallery definition | Dictionary.com

gal⋅ler⋅y

[gal-uh-ree, gal-ree]

–noun, plural -ler⋅ies.

1.	a raised area, often having a stepped or sloping floor, in a theater, church, or other public building to accommodate spectators, exhibits, etc.

2.	the uppermost of such areas in a theater, usually containing the cheapest seats.

3.	the occupants of such an area in a theater.

4.	the general public, esp. when regarded as having popular or uncultivated tastes.

5.	any group of spectators or observers, as at a golf match, a Congressional session, etc.

6.	a room, series of rooms, or building devoted to the exhibition and often the sale of works of art.

7.	a long covered area, narrow and open at one or both sides, used esp. as a walk or corridor.

8.	Chiefly South Atlantic States. a long porch or portico; veranda.

9.	a long, relatively narrow room, esp. one for public use.

10.	a corridor, esp. one having architectural importance through its scale or decorative treatment.

11.	a raised, balconylike platform or passageway running along the exterior wall of a building inside or outside.

12.	a large room or building used for photography, target practice, or other special purposes: a shooting gallery.

13.	a collection of art for exhibition.

14.	Theater. a narrow, raised platform located beyond the acting area, used by stagehands or technicians to stand on when working.

15.	Nautical. a projecting balcony or structure on the quarter or stern of a vessel.

16.	Furniture. an ornamental railing or cresting surrounding the top of a table, stand, desk, etc.

17.	Mining. a level or drift.

18.	a small tunnel in a dam, mine, or rock, for various purposes, as inspection or drainage.

19.	a passageway made by an animal.

20.	Fortification Obsolete. an underground or covered passage to another part of a fortified position.

—Idiom

21.	play to the gallery, to attempt to appeal to the popular taste, as opposed to a more refined or esoteric taste: Movies, though still playing mainly to the gallery, have taken their place as a significant art form.

Origin:
1400–50; late ME < OF galerie < ML galeria, by dissimilation or suffix replacement from galilea, galilæa galilee

Related forms:

gal⋅ler⋅ied, adjective

gal⋅ler⋅y⋅like, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Link To gallery

gal·ler·y (gāl'ə-rē)

n. pl. gal·ler·ies

A roofed promenade, especially one extending along the wall of a building and supported by arches or columns on the outer side.
A long enclosed passage, such as a hallway or corridor.
1. A narrow balcony, usually having a railing or balustrade, along the outside of a building.
2. A projecting or recessed passageway along an upper story on the interior or exterior of a large building, generally marked by a colonnade or arcade.
3. Such a passageway situated over the aisle of a church and opening onto the nave. Also called tribune².
4. An upper section, often with a sloping floor, projecting from the rear or side walls of a theater or an auditorium to provide additional seating.
5. The seats in such a section, usually cheaper than those on the main floor.
6. The cheapest seats in a theater, generally those of the uppermost gallery.
7. The audience occupying a gallery or cheap section of a theater.
8. A building, an institution, or a room for the exhibition of artistic work.
9. An establishment that displays and sells works of art.
10. A photographer's studio.
11. An underground tunnel or passageway, as in a cave or one dug for military or mining purposes.
12. A passage made by a tunneling insect or animal.
Southwestern Gulf States See veranda.
1. An upper section, often with a sloping floor, projecting from the rear or side walls of a theater or an auditorium to provide additional seating.
2. The seats in such a section, usually cheaper than those on the main floor.
3. The cheapest seats in a theater, generally those of the uppermost gallery.
4. The audience occupying a gallery or cheap section of a theater.
5. A building, an institution, or a room for the exhibition of artistic work.
6. An establishment that displays and sells works of art.
7. A photographer's studio.
8. An underground tunnel or passageway, as in a cave or one dug for military or mining purposes.
9. A passage made by a tunneling insect or animal.
A large audience or group of spectators, as at a tennis or golf match.
The general public, usually considered as exemplifying a lack of discrimination or sophistication: accused the administration of playing to the gallery on the defense issue.
1. A building, an institution, or a room for the exhibition of artistic work.
2. An establishment that displays and sells works of art.
3. A photographer's studio.
4. An underground tunnel or passageway, as in a cave or one dug for military or mining purposes.
5. A passage made by a tunneling insect or animal.
A collection; an assortment: The trial featured a gallery of famous and flamboyant witnesses.
1. An underground tunnel or passageway, as in a cave or one dug for military or mining purposes.
2. A passage made by a tunneling insect or animal.
Nautical A platform or balcony at the stern or quarters of some early sailing ships.
A decorative upright trimming or molding along the edge of a table top, tray, or shelf.

[Middle English galerie, from Old French, from Old North French galilee, galilee; see galilee.]
gal'ler·ied adj.
In Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi, an open roofed porch that runs along at least one side of a house has been called a gallery: "Out on the small front gallery she had hung Bobinôt's Sunday clothes to air" (Kate Chopin). Craig M. Carver, the author of American Regional Dialects, points out that the word gallery, from Old French galerie, was borrowed into British English in the 15th century and was brought over to the American colonies by English-speaking settlers. Although the word in the sense "porch" did not survive in the American English of the East Coast, it was borrowed separately, probably from Acadian French, into the English of 18th-century Louisiana and there survived as part of the Southwestern Gulf dialect.

ve·ran·da or ve·ran·dah (və-rān'də)

n. A porch or balcony, usually roofed and often partly enclosed, extending along the outside of a building. Also called regionally gallery.

[Hindi varaṇḍā, probably from Portuguese varanda (perhaps ultimately from Vulgar Latin *barra, barrier, bar).]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Gallery

Gal"ler*y\, n.; pl. Galleries. [F. galerie, It. galleria, fr. LL. galeria gallery, perh. orig., a festal hall, banquetting hall; cf. OF. galerie a rejoicing, fr. galer to rejoice. Cf. Gallant, a.]

1. A long and narrow corridor, or place for walking; a connecting passageway, as between one room and another; also, a long hole or passage excavated by a boring or burrowing animal.

2. A room for the exhibition of works of art; as, a picture gallery; hence, also, a large or important collection of paintings, sculptures, etc.

3. A long and narrow platform attached to one or more sides of public hall or the interior of a church, and supported by brackets or columns; -- sometimes intended to be occupied by musicians or spectators, sometimes designed merely to increase the capacity of the hall.

4. (Naut.) A frame, like a balcony, projecting from the stern or quarter of a ship, and hence called stern gallery or quarter gallery, -- seldom found in vessels built since 1850.

5. (Fort.) Any communication which is covered overhead as well as at the sides. When prepared for defense, it is a defensive gallery.

6. (Mining) A working drift or level.

Whispering gallery. See under Whispering.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : gallery

Spanish: galería,

German: die Galerie,

Japanese: 画廊

More Translations »

gallery

1500, from M.Fr. galerie "a long portico," from M.L. galeria, of uncertain origin, perhaps alteration of galilea "church porch," which is probably from L. Galilaea "Galilee," the northernmost region of Palestine; church porches sometimes were so called from being at the far end of the church. Sense of "building to house art" first recorded 1591; that of "people who occupy a (theater) gallery" (contrasted with "gentlemen of the pit") first by Lovelace, 1649, hence to play to the gallery (1872).

"Super altare Beatæ Mariæ in occidentali porte ejusdem ecclesiæ quæ Galilæ a vocatur." [c.1186 charter in "Durham Cathedral"]

Gallery

(1.) Heb. 'attik (Ezek. 41:15, 16), a terrace; a projection; ledge. (2.) Heb. rahit (Cant. 1:17), translated "rafters," marg. "galleries;" probably panel-work or fretted ceiling.

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
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gallery

see play to the gallery; rogues' gallery.

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