A pavilion is a subsidiary building, either freestanding or attached to a larger one, generally associated with leisure and pleasure rather than everyday use. As a freestanding structure it can take the form of a summer house, kiosk, gazebo, banqueting house or poolhouse, ranging from a modest garden outbuilding to a grand pleasure palace such as the Royal Pavilion at Brighton; as an attached element it can also mean a symmetrical wing flanking or terminating a larger palace front. The type is also used for sports grounds, park bandstands and hunting lodges. The word comes from the Latin papilio, meaning butterfly, by way of a medieval sense of tent, since a canvas pavilion silhouette was likened to a butterfly wings, and the building sense settled into English around the 1680s.
Reader Challenges (0 open reader challenges)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.
Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.