Nearby Words

patio

[pat-ee-oh, pah-tee-oh] Example Sentences Origin

pat·i·o

[pat-ee-oh, pah-tee-oh]
noun, plural -i·os.
1.
an area, usually paved, adjoining a house and used as an area for outdoor lounging, dining, etc.
2.
a courtyard, especially of a house, enclosed by low buildings or walls.

Origin:
1820–30, Americanism; < Spanish, Old Spanish: courtyard, perhaps orig. open area; compare Medieval Latin patium meadow, pasturage, perhaps derivative of Latin *patitus, past participle of patēre to lie open. See patent
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Patio is always a great word to know.
So is doohickey. Does it mean:
a gadget; dingus; thingumbob.
a fool or simpleton; ninny.
Example Sentences
  • It is possible, though, to get more use from a deck or patio by installing a retractable awning.
  • Immediately outside is a small patio surrounded by a low stone wall.
  • The body had mummified quickly, partly because the young woman had been placed in a rain-sheltered patio.
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Collins
World English Dictionary
patio (ˈpætɪˌəʊ)
 
n , pl -os
1.  an open inner courtyard, esp one in a Spanish or Spanish-American house
2.  an area adjoining a house, esp one that is paved and used for outdoor activities
 
[C19: from Spanish: courtyard]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

patio
1828, "inner court open to the sky," from Sp. patio probably from O.Prov. patu, pati "untilled land, communal pasture," from L. pactum "agreement" (see pact). Another theory traces the Sp. word to L. patere "to lie open." Meaning "paved and enclosed terrace beside a building"
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first recorded 1941. Patio furniture is attested from 1969.
COLLAPSE
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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