parterre

See also: Parterre, partèrre, and par terre

English

WOTD – 12 March 2016

The Parterre at Cliveden in Taplow, Buckinghamshire, England, in the United Kingdom

The parterre of the Théâtre Royal des Galeries in Brussels, Belgium, located under the gallery behind the stalls

Etymology

Borrowed from French parterre (“on the ground”), from par (“on”) + terre (“ground”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /pɑːˈtɛə/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /pɑːɹˈtɛɚ/
• Rhymes: -ɛə(ɹ)
• Hyphenation: par‧terre

Noun

parterre (plural parterres)

1. (horticulture) A flowerbed, particularly an elevated one.
   • 1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “Sir Robert Walpole and House”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 238:

     The window opened towards a most lovely garden, whose smooth turf and gorgeous parterres swept down to the river.

2. (horticulture) A garden with paths between such flowerbeds.
   • 2015 August 29, Sarah Raven, “The stately home garden where you can pick-and-eat all summer [print version: Pick-and-eat planting for the modern parterre, page 5]”, in The Daily Telegraph (Gardening)‎^[1], archived from the original on 3 September 2015:

     Parham House, near Pulborough in West Sussex, has a four-acre walled garden that was restored in the Twenties and has been maintained at a high level ever since. It is divided into four areas, one of which is filled by the cut-flower borders and a box-enclosed parterre. […] It is traditional in a parterre to mix flowers and veg, but this relaxed jungle of productive plants, packed in tight together, is lusher and more beautiful than the more usual Villandry style, where single or pairs of plants are used.

3. (theater) A part of the section of theater seats located on the ground floor, on the same level as the orchestra.
   • 1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter III, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC:

     That was Selwyn's first encounter with the Ruthvens. A short time afterward at the opera Gerald dragged him into a parterre to say something amiable to one of the amiable débutante Craig girls—and Selwyn found himself again facing Alixe.

   1. The part of the ground-floor section nearest the orchestra and the stage; the stalls.
   2. (British) The part of the ground-floor section behind the stalls and underneath the galleries; the pit.
4. (theater, by extension) That part of a theater audience seated in the parterre, sometimes regarded as belonging to a lower social class.
5. (US, New York) An apartment balcony.

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from French parterre.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌpɑrˈtɛː.rə/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: par‧ter‧re
• Rhymes: -ɛːrə

Noun

parterre m or n (plural parterres or parterren)

1. ground floor

   Synonym: begane grond

2. parterre, flowerbed
3. parterre, level garden with flowerbeds

Derived terms

• parterretrap

French

Etymology

Inherited from Middle French [Term?]. Equivalent to par +‎ terre.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /paʁ.tɛʁ/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: par‧terre

Noun

parterre m (plural parterres)

1. part of a garden that is divided into flowerbeds
2. the part of a theater between the stalls and the rear
   1. (by extension) the members of a theater audience seated in the parterre
   2. (by analogy) an assembly or group of people

Descendants

• → Dutch: parterre
• → English: parterre
• → Greek: παρτέρι (partéri)
• → Polish: parter
• → Romanian: parter
• → Spanish: parterre

Further reading

• “parterre”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from French parterre.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /paɾˈtere/ [paɾˈt̪e.re]
• Rhymes: -ere
• Syllabification: par‧te‧rre

Noun

parterre m (plural parterres)

1. flowerbed

   Synonyms: macizo, cantero

Further reading

• “parterre”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.7, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2023 November 28