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piazza

 - 4 dictionary results

pi⋅az⋅za

  [pee-az-uh, -ah-zuh or, for 1, 3 especially Brit., pee-at-suh, -aht-; for 1 also It. pyaht-tsah]
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–noun, plural pi⋅az⋅zas, Italian. piaz⋅ze  [pyaht-tse] .
1. an open square or public place in a city or town, esp. in Italy.
2. Chiefly New England and Inland South. a large porch on a house; veranda.
3. Chiefly British. an arcade or covered walk or gallery, as around a public square or in front of a building.
Origin:
1575–85; < It < L platēa courtyard, orig., street < Gk plateîa, n. use of fem. of platýs flat 1 . See place

Related forms:
pi⋅az⋅zaed, adjective
pi⋅az⋅zi⋅an, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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pi·az·za   (pē-āz'ə, -ä'zə)   
n.   pl. pi·az·zas

  1. pl. pi·az·ze (pē-ät'sə, pyät'sě) also (pē-ät'sə, pyät'sä) A public square in an Italian town.

  2. A roofed and arcaded passageway; a colonnade.

  3. New England & Southern Atlantic U.S. A veranda.


[Italian, from Latin platēa, street, from Greek plateia (hodos), broad (way), feminine of platus, broad; see plat- in Indo-European roots.]
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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Cultural Dictionary

piazza [(pee-az-uh, pee-ah-zuh, pee-aht-suh)]

An open square, especially in a city or town in Italy.

The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

piazza 
1583, "public square in an It. town," from It. piazza, from L. platea "courtyard, broad street," from Gk. plateia (hodos) "broad (street)." Mistakenly applied in Eng. c.1642 to the colonnade of Covent Garden, designed by Inigo Jones, rather than to the marketplace itself; hence "the verandah of a house" (1724, chiefly Amer.Eng.).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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