perron
Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
- noun A platform at the entrance of a large building.
- noun A flight of steps leading to such a platform.
from The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- noun In architecture, an external flight of steps by which access is given to the entrance-door of a building when the principal floor is raised above the level of the ground. It is often so treated as to form an important architectural adornment.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English
- noun An out-of-door flight of steps, as in a garden, leading to a terrace or to an upper story; -- usually applied to mediævel or later structures of some architectural pretensions.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
- noun A stone block used as the base of a monument, marker etc.
- noun A platform outside the raised entrance to a church or large building, or the steps leading to such a platform.
Examples
-
The drawbridge has been replaced by a modern "perron" or flight of stone steps, which leads to the entrance hall.
-
Yet recently, on the perron of the courthouse, I saw even a very simpleminded court usher, who, with the expert eye of a small-time patron at racetracks, was marveling at the lawyer as, lifting his thighs aloft, he climbed from step to step, his footfalls ringing on the marble.
-
At last the sun began to sink, and we went to the perron of the house, and found her standing to meet us in her wonted way.
-
There still exists, indeed, in the corner of the courtyard, a perron or flight of several outer steps by which the house is entered; and the way into the garden on the garden front is down a similar flight of steps.
-
There still exists, indeed, in the corner of the courtyard, a perron or flight of several outer steps by which the house is entered; and the way into the garden on the garden front is down a similar flight of steps.
-
On hot days the blinds would be drawn down before the open windows, but in the angle of each window was fixed a long slip of mirror, so that from every corner one could see if visitors, welcome or unwelcome, were driving up to the perron.
Note
The word 'perron' comes from an Old French word meaning 'stone'.
