English

Noun

naos ‎(plural naoses or naosoi or naoi)

1. (architecture) The inner part of a Greek temple; it contained a statue of the appropriate deity surrounded by a colonnaded portico; it gave rise to the Roman cella
   • 1846 Henry Ellis - The Elgin and Phigaleian marbles of the classical ages, in the British museum

     The simplest form of the rectangular temple was that in which the two side walls were carried out from the naos to form the porch at one or both extremities of the building.