Wednesday, January 06, 2010

WORD OF THE DAY


It is time for the Word of the Day. If you just want to learn a new word, that is fine. It is more fun if you make up your own sentence using the word and post it in the comments.

This week's word is parvis, which I came across on page 246 in Desert, by 2008 Nobel Prize winner Jean-Marie Gustave LeClezio.

Parvis is a noun meaning an enclosed court or yard in front of a building, especially a church. It can also mean a portico or single line of columns in front of a church.

The word comes from Middle English which derived from the Old French word parevis which came from the Latin paradisus, meaning literally Paradise: the name of the court before St Peter's cathedral in Rome. (Webster's New World Dictionary, Third College Edition.)

My sentence: Looking for a quiet and sacred place to do some serious thinking but feeling shy about entering such a dauntingly holy structure, the young woman settled down on a marble bench in the parvis.

What is your sentence?

2 comments:

  1. Anonymous11:28 AM

    My sentence:
    The impressive statue in the parvis is only a prelude to the breathtaking artwork inside the church.

    Signed: From A to Z

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks A to Z for an excellent sentence!

    ReplyDelete