Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Plural form of periaktos.
  • noun A device for changing scenery in a theatre. A row of adjacent, three-sided columns form a backdrop to the stage and are turned in unison to show a different face.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Ancient Greek περίακτοι (periaktoi), masculine plural of περίακτος (periaktos, "revolving, pivoting"), from περιάγω (periagō, "I turn round").

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Examples

  • Beyond are spaces provided for decoration -- places that the Greeks call [Greek: periaktoi], because in these places are triangular pieces of machinery ([Greek: D, D]) which revolve, each having three decorated faces.

    The Ten Books on Architecture Vitruvius Pollio

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