penthouse
/ˈpɛnt(h)aʊs/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.31 in modern English
14
Scrabble Score
9
Letters
2
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A structure or annexe (especially one with a sloping roof) extending from the side of a building, sometimes as protection from the weather.
Example Sentences
- "At length, recommending himself to God, he let go one end of his cord, and suffered himself to fall down upon an old shed or penthouse, which, with the weight of his body, fell in with great noise."
- "The proboscis […] is doubled up by means of the joint, and in that position lies secure under a scaly penthouse."
- "2005, Tony Collins (ed.), Encyclopaedia of Traditional British Rural Sports, Routledge, page 262, An odd derivative of real tennis lasted until the latter part of the eighteenth century at Rattray in Perthshire. It was played in the churchyard by two pairs of men, and the method for starting the play was to throw the ball onto the church roof, using it like the sloping penthouse of the tennis court."
- "Night of January 16th is the story of a woman on trial for pushing her wealthy boss-lover from a Manhattan penthouse."
Etymology
From Anglo-Norman pentiz (“pentice”), from apendiz (“appentice”), ultimately from a suffixed form of Latin appendō (“to append”). Altered by folk etymology to appear to be a compound of house. Doublet of appentice and pentice.