mezzanine
/ˈmɛzəˌnin/
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.81 in modern English
Meaning
noun
An intermediate floor or storey in between the main floors of a building; specifically, one that is directly above the ground floor which does not extend over the whole floorspace of the building, and so resembles a large balcony overlooking the ground floor; an entresol.
noun
An apartment, room, etc., on such an intermediate floor.
noun
The lowest balcony in an auditorium, cinema, theatre, etc.; the dress circle.
Canadian usage; American usage
noun
In full mezzanine window: a small window at the height of a mezzanine floor (sense 1.1) or an attic, used to light these floors.
Obsolete
adj
Characteristic of or relating to high-interest loans which have no collateral, and are regarded as intermediate in nature, ranking above equity but below secured loans.
adj
Fulfilling an intermediate or secondary function.
Example Sentences
- "On our way to the top floor, we stopped at the mezzanine."
- "[W]ater closet on mezzanine provided with opaque singlepane oblong window, tipup seat, bracket lamp, brass tierod brace, armrests, footstool and artistic oleograph on inner face of door: […]"
- "In these sheds, individual products rest on short racks, so they can be reached more easily by employees who pick and box orders. In order to fit more racks, companies put in several mezzanine levels. As a result, the sheds rise taller: 21 metres, compared to B2B’s 15 metres."
- "On arrival at Birmingham New Street, I make my way upstairs to the mezzanine to get shots of an almost deserted concourse, polka-dotted with social distancing circles like some strange board-game."
- "This new vehicle funded the purchases of these tranches by issuing fixed-income interests to investors who were seeking high returns and who were willing to believe that by repackaging mezzanine tranches in MBS structures, some tranches could be designated as safe enough to obtain a AAA or AA rating."
- "To make interconnections easier, we added a mezzanine PCB."
Etymology
Origin
- Source language: French
Word Breakdown
- Root: mezzanine, mezzanino, mediānus, *médʰyos
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈmɛzəˌnin/
- British English: /ˈmɛzəniːn/
Usage
- Canadian usage
- American usage
- Obsolete
- Transitive verb