balcony
/ˈbælkəni/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.78 in modern English
14
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
3
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
An accessible structure extending from a building, especially outside a window.
noun
An accessible structure overlooking a stage or the like.
Example Sentences
- "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."
- "The next day as the three travelers were approaching the town, Peter went out on the balcony to pray."
- "Its old town rises out of the Aegean Sea towards a clifftop Venetian castle in a jumble of white-washed narrow streets, flat rooftops and balconies that provide a perfect, obstacle-filled arena for parkour."
- "No security cameras were monitoring the second-floor balcony where thieves gained access to the Louvre to steal historic jewels worth over $100 million, the museum’s director told a French Senate committee hearing."
- "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."
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Germanic *balkô Frankish *balkōbor. Medieval Latin balcōbor. Italian balconebor. English balcony 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.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈbælkəni/
- British English: /ˈbælkəni/