peristyle

From French péristyle, from Classical Latin peristȳlum, peristȳlium, from Ancient Greek περιστῡ́λιον (peristū́lion), περίστυλον (perístulon), noun use of the neuter form of περίστυλος (perístulos, “surrounded by columns”), from περί (perí) + στῦλος (stûlos, “pillar”).

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈpɛɹɪstaɪl/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈpɛɹəstaɪl/

peristyle (plural peristyles)

1. A colonnade surrounding a courtyard, temple, etc., or the yard enclosed by such columns. [from 17th c.]
   • 1942, Rebecca West, Black Lamb and Grey Falcon, Canongate 2006, page 143:

     One cannot, for example, see the Temple of Æsculapius as one stands in the fine open courtyard as it was intended one should do; the interstices on that side of the peristyle have been blocked by Venetian Gothic buildings.

2. A porch surrounded by columns. [from 17th c.]
3. (voodoo) A sacred roofed courtyard with a central pillar (the potomitan), used as a space for voodoo ceremonies, either alone or as an adjunct to an enclosed temple or altar-room.
   • 1953, Maya Deren, Divine Horsemen, McPherson & Company 2004, p. 47:

     The peristyle is a roofed structure, open at the sides, in which most of the ceremonials and dances take place.

   • 2007, Kevin Filan, The Haitian Vodou Handbook, Destiny Books 2007, p. 35:

     Most peristyles in Haiti have hard-packed dirt floors that can soak up libations when they're poured on the ground in honor of the spirits.

• Priestley