| 释义 |
mezzanine|ˈmɛzəniːn|
Also 8 mezanine, (9 mezzonine); Italian 8 mezanino, 8–9 mezzanino, pl. 8 mez(z)anini, mezaninis.
[a. F. mezzanine, ad. It. mezzanino, dim. of mezzano middle:—L. mediānus median.]
1. a. A low story between two higher ones; esp. a low story between the ground floor and the story above, occas. between the ground floor and the basement. Cf. entresol. Also attrib. (quasi-adj.), esp. in mezzanine floor, mezzanine story.
1711[see entresol]. 1715Leoni Palladio's Archit. (1742) I. 46 The Closets..have Mezzanino's or half Stories above them. Ibid. 59 On the Closets are Mezanini. 1726― Designs 1/2 The smaller stairs..ascend to the Mezzanines. 1741Corr. betw. C'tess Hartford & C'tess Pomfret (1805) III. 80 The princess di Forano,..took us into the mezzanini, where the family live. 1754Pococke Trav. (Camden) II. 140 To the saloon and hall there are as mezaninis above the windows. 1837Civ. Eng. & Arch. Jrnl. I. 59/2 The domestic offices are admirably arranged in the basement and mezzanine stories. 18702nd Rep. Dep. Kpr. Irel. 11 The ground-floor and mezzanine story of this part of the building are arched constructions. 1876B. Champneys in Willis & Clark Cambridge (1886) III. 237 A large cupboard for stowage on a mezzanine. Ibid., The stowage room on the mezzanine floor.
b. A platform or flooring laid over a floor to bring its height up to some required level.
1715Leoni Palladio's Archit. (1742) I. 27 If any little Room or Closet should happen to be lower than the rest, what is wanting must be supplied by a Mezanine, or false Floor-Cieling.
c. Theatr. A floor beneath the stage, from which the short scenes and traps are worked. Also mezzanine floor.
1859Sala Gas-light & D. ii. 31 Work underneath the stage, on the umbrageous mezzonine floor. 1881P. Fitzgerald World Behind Scenes 46 Below the stage on the mezzanine floor. 1886Stage Gossip 69 The ‘mezzanine’ is the name of the lower stage—the one immediately below the ‘boards’ proper—and it is from here that all ‘rises’, ‘sinks’ and ‘traps’ are worked.
d. In a theatre or cinema: see quot. 1961. U.S.
1927Sexton & Betts Amer. Theatres of Today 3/2 If..the site is unusually small, or if, due to its location or to the high cost of land, the maximum number of seats are required, balconies and mezzanines are necessitated. Ibid. 4/2 Seats lost by reducing the length of the main balcony are obtained in a mezzanine balcony. 1933Radio City News 1 May 1/3 It is now possible for patrons to reserve seats in the first smoking mezzanine for any performance of the week. 1957New Yorker 29 June 22/1, I was in a movie house, fairly plush, in a sort of mezzanine, or balcony. 1961Bowman & Ball Theatre Lang. 219 Mezzanine, a seating area just above the orchestra, or the forward part of such an area; the first balcony.
2. A small window, less in height than breadth, occurring in entresols and attics, etc. Also mezzanine window.
1731Bailey vol. II, Mezzanine, an Entresole, or little window, less in height than breadth, serving to illuminate an Attic, &c. 1837Foreign Q. Rev. XIX. 78 There are mezzanine windows behind the entablature.
Add:3. Comm. Used attrib. (orig. in connection with venture capital) to designate an intermediate level or stage in a financial enterprise; used spec. (a) of the last phase of a firm's development or funding prior to flotation; (b) of a method of funding (esp. for a leveraged buyout or a recapitalization) by means of unsecured, high-interest yielding loans that are subordinate to bank loans and secured loans but which rank above equity. Esp. in mezzanine bracket, mezzanine debt, mezzanine finance, etc. Also transf.
1976Forbes (N.Y.) 1 Nov. 71/3 We're a major in municipal bond offerings; we're the only firm outside Wall Street that's in the new mezzanine bracket of corporate underwritings. 1983Times 21 June 16/1 It [sc. the company] will principally invest in debt securities, generally on a subordinated basis, in return for interest income and a significant participation in the equity of the borrower. This is generally referred to herein as ‘mezzanine investment’. 1986Observer 23 Nov. 37 Before..1983, potential raiders looked to venture capitalists and major insurance companies to provide mezzanine finance. 1988Investors Chron. 26 Aug. 63/2 The fashionable phrase now for junk bonds is ‘mezzanine debt’. Undoubtedly a politer title but it means the same thing. 1989Banker Feb. 80/3 Drexel Burnham Lambert, king of the junk bond market, proved irresistible as lead manager for the arrangement of fixed-rate mezzanine funding. 1991Sight & Sound Oct. 6/3 The company plans to release a more balanced slate, with a few ‘mezzanine’ movies in the $20 to $25 million range, and some low-budget ‘quality’ films. |