English edit

 
Neoclassical balcony in Paris
 
Art Nouveau balcony in Paris
 
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Etymology edit

From Italian balcone (balcony, floor-length window), from Old Italian balcone (scaffold) from Lombardic *balk, *balko (beam), from Proto-Germanic *balkô (beam), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰelǵ- (beam, pile, prop). Akin to Old High German balco, balcho (beam), Old English balca (beam, ridge). More at balk.

Pronunciation edit

  • (UK) IPA(key): /ˈbælkəni/, (obsolete) /bælˈkəʊni/
  • (General American) IPA(key): /ˈbælkəni/
  • (file)
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Noun edit

balcony (plural balconies)

  1. (architecture) An accessible structure extending from a building, especially outside a window.
    • 1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XII, in Francesca Carrara. [], volume II, London: Richard Bentley, [], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 132:
      I sprang a step forward; when two shadows were distinctly traced on the moonlit myrtle! Then two figures stood upon the balcony. A young cavalier jumped from the balustrade, and hurried down the path that led to the garden, where I well remember a gate opened on an unfrequented lane.
    • 2002, The Message translation of The Bible, Book of Acts 10:9–13
      The next day as the three travelers were approaching the town, Peter went out on the balcony to pray.
  2. An accessible structure overlooking a stage or the like.
    • 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 3, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:
      Sepia Delft tiles surrounded the fireplace, their crudely drawn Biblical scenes in faded cyclamen blending with the pinkish pine, while above them, instead of a mantelshelf, there was an archway high enough to form a balcony with slender balusters and a tapestry-hung wall behind.

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