penthouse

pent·house

P0173500 (pĕnt′hous′)n.1. a. An apartment or dwelling situated on the roof of a building.b. A residence, often with a terrace, on the top floor or floors of a building.c. A structure housing machinery on the roof of a building.2. A shed or sloping roof attached to the side of a building or wall.3. Sports The sloping roof that rises from the inner wall to the outer wall surrounding three sides of the court in court tennis, off which the ball is served.

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[Alteration of Middle English pentis, pentace, a shed attached to a wall of a building, from Anglo-Norman pentiz, penthouses, from Old French apentiz, penthouse, from apent, past participle of apendre, to belong, depend, from Medieval Latin appendere, from Latin, to hang, suspend; see append.]Word History: The status of the word penthouse has risen considerably in its history. The word ultimately goes back to Latin appendere, "to cause to be suspended." In Medieval Latin appendere developed the sense "to belong, depend," a sense that passed into apendre, the Old French development of appendere. From apent, the past participle of apendre, came the derivative apentiz, "low building behind or beside a house," and the Anglo-Norman plural form pentiz. The form without the a- was then borrowed into Middle English, giving us pentis, which was applied to sheds or lean-tos added on to buildings. Because these structures often had sloping roofs, the word was connected with the French word pente, "slope," and beginning in the 1500s, the second part of the word began to be associated with the word house, in its meaning "a building for human use," and spellings like penthouse begin to become common. The use of the term with reference to fancy apartments developed from its application to a structure built on a roof to cover such things as a stairway or an elevator shaft. Penthouse then came to mean an apartment built on a rooftop and finally the top floor of an apartment building.

penthouse

(ˈpɛntˌhaʊs) n1. (Architecture) a flat or maisonette built onto the top floor or roof of a block of flats2. (Architecture) a construction on the roof of a building, esp one used to house machinery3. (Architecture) a shed built against a building, esp one that has a sloping roof4. (Tennis) real tennis the roofed corridor that runs along three sides of the court[C14 pentis (later penthouse, by folk etymology), from Old French apentis, from Late Latin appendicium appendage, from Latin appendere to hang from; see appendix]

pent•house

(ˈpɛntˌhaʊs)

n., pl. -hous•es (-ˌhaʊ zɪz) 1. an apartment or dwelling on the roof of a building, usu. set back from the outer walls. 2. any specially designed apartment on an upper floor, esp. the top floor, of a building. 3. a structure on a roof for housing elevator machinery, a water tank, etc. 4. a sloping roof or a shed with a sloping roof projecting from a wall or the side of a building, as to shelter a door. [1520–30; alter. (by folk etym.) of Middle English pentis < Old French apentiz=apent, past participle of apendre to hang against]

penthouse

1. An outhouse with a lean-to roof.2. A separate structure on the roof of a high rise building.

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

penthouse - an apartment located on the top floors of a buildingapartment, flat - a suite of rooms usually on one floor of an apartment house

Translations

楼顶阁楼

penthouse

(ˈpenthaus) noun a (usually luxurious) flat at the top of a building. That apartment building has a beautiful penthouse; (also adjective) a penthouse flat. 閣樓 楼顶阁楼（的）