gallery English · revision 4893

+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1439|origins=la-med galeria}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈɡæl.ər.i/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|gallerie]], [[bor|frm|galerie|t=a long portico]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) from Italian galleria “gallery, church porch”^(Hoad 1986)^(NODE 1998) and [[la-med|galeria]], of uncertain origin.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) It is perhaps an alteration of Medieval Latin galilea “church porch”, from Latin Galilaea, the region of Galilee in Palestine,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) perhaps because the porch was at the far end of the church from the altar, as Galilee was an outlying region.^(Cresswell 2021)^(Barnhart 1988) It is related to [[galilee]].^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A covered walk or passage, partly open at the side: before 1439 in Barnhart, in Lydgate's Fall of Princes, the mid-15th century in Etymonline and before 1500 in the OED.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ A long platform or balcony outside a building is from 1509,^(OED 1989) a raised floor inside a church from 1630,^(OED 1989) and in a theatre from 1690.^(OED 1989) A building or room for works of art is from 1591, in Shakespeare's 1 Henry VI.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) The people in the cheapest theatre seats were ''the gallery'' by Lovelace's poems (1649),^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) hence ''to play to the gallery'' (1867).^(Etymonline) In mining and military use it is an underground passage.^(OED 1989)^(AHD) In parts of the American South a gallery is a roofed porch along the side of a house.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1439 – a covered walk.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1509 – an outside balcony.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1591 – a place to show works of art.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1630 – a church gallery.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1649 – theatre-goers in the cheap seats.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1867 – ''play to the gallery''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A room or building where works of [[art]] are shown or sold.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A raised floor projecting from the inside wall of a [[church]], [[hall]] or [[theatre]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # The highest and cheapest seats in a theatre, or the people in them.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A long room or passage; a covered walk.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # An underground passage in a mine or fort.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(US, Southern)'' A porch along the side of a house.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[galleried]]

+ * [[galleryite]]

+ * [[gallerylike]]

+ * [[gallerygoer]]

+ * [[gallery forest]]

+ * [[peanut gallery]]

+ * [[press gallery]]

+ * [[rogues' gallery]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[galilee]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}